RADFORD'S 

PRACTICAL 
BARN  PLANS 


H  OUTBUILDINGS 
s^  STOCK  SHEDS 


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in  2009  witii  funding  from 

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V 


RADFORD'S 

Practical    Barn    Plans 


Being  a  Complete 
Collection  of  Practical, 
Economical  and  Com- 
mon-Sense Plans  of 
Barns,  Out  Buildings 
and    Stock    Sheds  ::   ::  :: 


EDITED  BY 

WILLIAM    A.    RADFORD 


President  of  The  Radford  Architectural  Co.,  Author  of  "Radford's  Encyclopedia  on 
Carpentry,  Building  and  Architecture,"  "The  Steel  Square  and  Its  Uses,"  "Practical 
Carpentry,"  "The  Radford  American  Homes,"  "The  Radford  Ideal  Homes,"  "Rad- 
ford's Modern  Homes,"  "Radford's  Artistic  Bungalows,"  "Radford's  Artistic  Homes," 
"Cement  Houses  and  How  to  Build  Them,"  "Radford's  Combined  House  and  Barn 
Plan  Book,"  "Radford's  Stores  and  Fiat  Buildings,"  and  the  best  authority  in  the 
country    on   all    matters    pertaining   to   the   building   industry. 


PUBLISHED    BY 


THE  RADFORD  ARCHITECTURAL  CO. 

No.   185  E.Jackson  Blvd.,  No.  I  78  Fulton  St., 

CHICAGO,  ILL.  NEW  YORK,  N.   Y. 


PREFACE 

The  farm  building  department  is  given  not  only  in  the  interest  of  the  farmer, 
but  because  every  one  is  more  or  less  dependent  upon  the  soil  and  is  consequently 
directly  or  indirectly  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer.  There  comes  a 
time  when  every  business  man  and  most  other  men  want  to  build  either  a  house, 
or  barn,  or  both.  It  is  the  province  of  this  book  to  offer  suggestions.  Plans  are 
necessary  to  avoid  mistakes.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  secure  good  plans  as  to  build  after 
the  ideas  prevailing  in  the  neighborhood,  probably  advanced  by  some  carpenter  who 
has  had  little  or  no  experience  outside  of  his  own  town.  Barns  as  well  as  houses  are 
built  or  should  be  built  for  a  specific  purpose  and  there  are  fundamental  principles 
which  are  vital  if  the  best  results  are  to  be  obtained.  It  is  not  always  necessary  or 
desirable  to  build  expensively.  It  often  happens  that  an  inexpensive  or  even  a  cheap 
structure  will  answer  the  purpose  just  as  well,  but  this  book  does  not  countenance  the 
building  of  unsightly  houses  or  out  buildings.  There  are  essentials  to  be  built  into 
farm  buildings  that  cannot  be  seen  after  they  are  finished,  but  these  essentials  must 
be  there  or  the  buildings  will  not  be  right.  Drainage,  foundation,  ventilation  and 
economy  are  four  requisites  that  have  received  special  attention  in  compiling  the 
material  for  this  work  and  they  are  four  of  the  worst  neglected  principles  when 
ordinary  farm  buildings  are  planned.  Drainage  and  foundation  are  easily  treated  to 
fit  each  case,  but  ventilation  is  less  tangible,  although  it  is  equally  important,  while 
the  study  of  economy  has  no  beginning  and  no  legitimate  ending,  for  it  embraces 
not  only  the  construction  of  the  building,  but  the  use  of  it  ever  after.  Even  a 
small  farm  building  is  worth  very  close  attention  in  the  planning,  location  and 
building  because  of  its  appearance  and  the  labor  it  entails  in  its  connection  with 
general    farm    economy. 

In  the  arrangement  of  the  book  the  first  point  made  clear  to  the  reader  is 
the  need  for  the  structure.  Naturally  what  the  building  is  wanted  for  should  be  first 
made  plain.  Then  the  construction  is  followed  to  completion  when  the  building 
takes  its  place  in  the  farm   economy. 

It  is  a  book,  the  author  believes,  which  will  make  interesting  a  subject  that 
farmers  have  always  before  them,  and  enable  them  to  find  a  design  for  any  kind  of 
barn  or  farm  building  that  may  be  needed.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  contribute  anything 
to  add  to  the  beauties  and  charm  of  American  firm  life,  and  in  that  spirit  this  vol- 
ume  is  given   to  the    agricultural    world. 


Coi.yriKlil   l'«P' 


Till;  K.MiioKi)  ARCiiiTi-xrrRAi,  Co. 

ClIICAC.O 


Department  of 

Dairy    Barns 


LARGE  DAIRY  STABLE— Aioo 
Price  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00. 


THE  careful  housing  of  dairy  cows  is  re- 
ceiving systematic  consideration  as 
never  before.  Investigations  have  been 
conducted  by  men  who  are  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  subject  from  a  prac- 
tical as  well  as  a  scientific  standpoint. 

Government  milk  inspectors,  backed  by 
public  opinion,  have  established  a  thor- 
ough system  of  inspection.  City  milk  sup- 
ply is  now  traced  to  its  source,  the  cows 
examined  thoroughly  for  condition  and 
health  and  the  stable  for  cleanliness.  If 
incompetency  or  indifference  has  led  the 
dairyman  to  disobey  the  state  sanitary  re- 
quirements he  is  not  permitted  to  ship 
milk  until  he  satisfies  the  inspector  that 
he  has  mended  his  ways.  This  course  was 
made  necessary  by  the  rapidly  increasing 
volume  of  business  which  is  conducted  by 
such  a  cosmopolitan  class  of  people;  com- 
prising as  it  does,  all  grades  of  producers 
from  the  most  progressive  farmer  down 
the  line  of  small  dairymen  to  the  ignorant 
huckster.  Cleanliness  is  required  by  in- 
spectors, first,  last  and  all  the  time;  thus, 
making  the  right  start,  for  cleanliness, 
leads  to  many  virtues.  A  man  who  is  par- 
ticular about  all  utensils,  his  wagon, 
stable,  cattle  and  himslf,  will  not  tolerate 
a  poor  stable  or  an  unhealthy  cow.  He 
may  not  understand  the  science  of  fer- 
ments or  disease  germs,  but  his  milk  sup- 
ply will  be  good  and  wholesome,  because 
he  robs  harmful  bacteria  of  the  dirt  upon 
which  they  thrive. 


In  our  northern  climate,  warmer  stables 
have  for  years  occupied  the  attention  of 
our  best  farmers  and  stockmen.  Bank 
barns  were  the  outgrowth  of  a  desire  to 
provide  comfortable  stables  that  were 
both  warmer  and  better.  The  conven- 
ience of  having  all  stock  under  one  roof, 
tucked  carefully  away  from  the  cold, 
with  plenty  of  feed  overhead  ready  at  all 
times  to  find  its  way  to  mangers  and  food 
racks  by  gravity,  proved  very  alluring  to 
ambitious  farmers  all  over  the  country. 
But  animals  housed  in  these  expensive 
dungeons  were  not  happy  and  showed 
their  discomfiture  in  watery  eyes,  luster- 
less  hair,  hot  noses  and  hot,  feverish 
breath,  with  fretful,  quarrelsome  actions 
together  with  their  inability  to  grow  or 
fatten.  Too  frequently  cattle  thus  hous- 
ed were  attacked  by  bovine  disease  germs, 
which  were  materially  assisted  in  their 
work  of  destruction  by  conditions  so  ex- 
pensively though  unintentionally  provid- 
ed. Stockmen  thought  the  trouble  was 
caused  by  too  great  a  change  in  tempera- 
ture by  allowing  the  cattle  to  go  out  for 
an  airing  or  for  water  each  day;  to  rem- 
edy this,  water  buckets  were  added  to  the 
stable  outfit  and  the  stock  confined  in  an 
abominable  atmosphere  for  weeks  at  a 
time. 

Atmospheric  conditions  affect  animals 
differently.  The  heavy  breeds  of  beef  cat- 
tle are  usually  phlegmatic  in  disposition, 
paying  little  attention  to  ordinary  disturb- 


n6 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


ances;  these  suffered  less  in  consequence, 
though  it  was  noticed  that  they  did  not 
benefit  from  the  quantity  and  quaUty  of 
feed  as  they  should.  Milch  cows  of  a 
highly  nervous  organization  are  more  sus- 
ceptible to  incipient  diseases  caused  by  ob- 
jectional  surroundings  than  any  other 
domestic  animal.  Not  until  progressive 
scientific  men  spent  much  time  and  money 
in  investigations  and  experiments  was  the 
trouble  traced  to  its  true  source. 

Analyzing  stable  atmosphere  led  to  the 
detection  of  harmful  bacteria  in  incredu- 
lous numbers.  Scientists  engaged  in  the 
work  were  slow  to  give  out  the  result  of 
their  first  investigations,  thinking  that  the 
conditions  under  which  they  were  working 
might  be  abnormal.     Prospecting  further 


cient  to  be  of  use.  Sunlight  is  destructive 
to  all  forms  of  harmful  bacteria;  therefore 
a  stable  should  admit  the  direct  rays  of 
the  sun  to  every  stall  if  possible. 

An  eastern  model  dairy  stable  combin- 
ing all  good  qualities  while  eliminating  ob- 
jectionable features  is  shown  in  the  ac- 
companying plans.  The  stable  may  be 
built  at  a  low  cost,  is  warm  in  winter,  cool 
in  summer,  and  sanitary  and  hygienic  at 
all  times. 

Location. 

The  proper  location  for  a  dairy  stable 
is  the  first  consideration.  Good  air.  good 
drainage,  plenty  of  sunlight  and  an  abun- 
dant water  supply  are  all  essential  feat- 


and  while  endeavoring  to  learn  the  cause 
they  found  the  conditions  in  these  cellar 
stables  particularly  favorable  to  the  pro- 
pagation of  stockmen's  worst  enemy. 
Harmful  bacteria  delight  in  a  dusty  atmos- 
phere, especially  when  it  is  impregnated 
with  moisture;  when  a  share  of  the  damp- 
ness comes  from  the  moisture  laden  breath 
of  animals  that  are  obliged  to  breathe  the 
same  air  over  and  over  again,  bacteria  con- 
ditions are  complete. 

Bank  barns  are  always  damp  and  always 
dusty;  owing  to  their  construction  they 
never  admit   sunlight   in  quantities  suffi- 


ures  Fresh  air  and  drainage  may  be  se- 
cured by  selecting  an  elevation;  protection 
from  cold  winds  by  means  of  a  tree  belt  or 
a  high  tight  board  fence.  Sufficient  water 
may  be  obtained  in  most  any  situation  by 
a  powerful  windmill.  There  are  other  con- 
siderations such  as  convenience  to  the  pas- 
ture fields  and  a  short  haul  from  the  fields 
in  which  soiling  crops  are  grown.  Pas- 
ture, however,  receives  less  consideration 
than  it  did  a  few  years  ago.  North  of 
parallel  42  there  is  an  average  of  only  six 
weeks  of  good  pasture.  Summer  droughts 
sandwiched   in   between   late   spring  and 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


117 


early  fall  frosts  are  responsible  for  this 
condition,  so  that  a  good  many  farmers 
in  the  east  depend  upon  soiling  crops  a 
great  deal  more  than  they  do  on  pasture. 
A  runway  consisting  of  least  a  quarter  of 
an  acre  for  each  cow  is  necessary,  but  the 
fields  may  be  more  profitably  employed  in 
raising  cultivated  crops.  The  question  of 
drainage  is  a  very  important  one.  If  the 
soil  is  naturally  dry  and  slopes  sufficient 
to  carry  off  rain  water  no  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  tiling  will  be  necessary,  but  if  there 
is  any  doubt  it  is  better  to  be  on  the  safe 
side. 

Grading. 
In  laying  out  a  stable  a  great  deal  of 
after  work  may  be  saved  by  a  careful  sur- 
vey of  the  grade.  Manure  should  be  re- 
moved from  a  dairy  stable  promptly  every 
day  and  carted  at  once  to  the  fields.  By 
the  use  of  a  manure  carrier  and  a  spreader 
this  way  of  managing  is  cheaper  as  well 
as  better  than  the  old  fashioned  way  of 
piling  in  manure  to  be  hauled  away  at 


a  few  stakes  of  different  lengths  comprises 
about  all  the  tools  necessary. 
Excavation. 

The  excavation  for  the  walls  may  be  just 
deep  enough  to  go  below  frost.  For  con- 
crete or  cement  walls  make  the  trench  just 
the  width  necessary  to  hold  the  wall  ma- 
terial but  after  the  trench  is  done  make  a 
rounded  recess  all  round  the  edge  near 
the  bottom  to  hold  a  course  of  three  inch 
tile.  This  answers  the  double  purpose  of 
carrying  off  surplus  water  and  preventing 
rats  from  undermining  the  wall.  Rats  will 
dig  down  at  the  side  of  the  wall  until  they 
come  to  an  obstruction,  they  will  follow 
the  obstruction  along  close  to  the  wall  but 
never  think  of  digging  outward  to  get 
around  it.  The  ends  of  the  tile  should  ter- 
minate in  the  main  drain  just  below  the 
trap. 

Walls. 

In  some  parts  of  the  country  stone  is 
plentiful  and  farmers  prefer  to  lay  up  a 
stone  wall  but  generally  speaking  a  con- 


^iff/^    or  COI/'  Bfi/fN 


some  future  time.  In  making  the  grade 
the  stable  floor  may  be  placed  high  enough 
to  run  the  manure  carrier  directly  out  over 
the  spreader.  Calculation  must  also  be 
made  for  carrying  off  the  water  used  in 
flushing  the  gutters  and  in  washing  the 
dairy  utensils.  The  intake  for  ventilation 
is  another  consideration  before  commenc- 
ing work.  In  order  to  lay  out  the  ground 
right  a  general  working  drawing  giving 
the  floor  plan  and  profile  is  necessary.  Any 
one  can  work  to  such  a  plan  by  having  a 
few  simple  instruments.     An  A  level  and 


Crete  wall  is  cheaper  and  better.  The  ma- 
terials may  be  put  together  on  the  ground 
and  dumped  into  the  trenches  with  un- 
skilled labor.  It  is  only  necessary  to  look 
carefully  to  the  leveling  and  finishing  of 
the  job.  For  this  purpose  a  two  inch  plank 
staked  carefully  in  position  with  the  edges 
even  with  the  top  of  the  wall  forms  a  guide 
both  for  leveling  and  for  thickness.  Open- 
ings in  the  plank  may  be  left  for  doorways 
and  boxes  built  around  the  size  and  shape 
to  properly  hold  cement  sills  so  that  when 
the  wall  is  finished  the  door  sills  will  be 


ii8 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


complete  and  the  whole  tiling  will  be  in 
one   piece. 

The  Floor 

After  the  walls  are  finished  the  grading 
for  the  floor  conies  next  in  order.  The  pro- 
file shows  the  relative  position  of  the  in- 
take for  fresh  air,  the  floor  of  the  feeding 
alley,  position  of  the  cement  mangers,  in- 
clines of  the  floor  in  which  the  cattle  stand, 
the  gutter  and  the  walk  behind  the  cows. 
Besides  the  cross  section  the  mangers  and 
gutters  incline  with  the  length  of  the  sta- 
ble. In  order  to  locate  all  these  points  a 
good  many  grade  stakes  are  necessary. 
They  are  set  carefully  to  measurement  and 
driven  down  until  the  tops  come  right  for 
the  grade.  It  is  easier  to  do  this  work  be- 
fore the  building  is  erected.  One  point  to 
be  rembered  is  that  the  wall  should  not 
extend  much  above  the  floor  for  the  reason 
that  dampness  will  collect  on  the  inner 
side  or  warmer  side  of  the  wall  especially 
in  winter.  Also  the  iron  pipes  designed 
to  partition  the  stalls  and  support  the  ceil- 
ing should  be  imbedded  in  cement  when 
it  is  fresh. 

Superstructure 

It  is  cheaper  to  build  barns  and  stables 
low  because  lighter  material  may  be  used 
in  their  construction.  A  dairy  stable  should 
have  a  low  ceiling  to  facilitate  ventilation. 
Seven  feet  is  high  enough  for  a  ceiling  but 
eight  feet  looks  better  if  the  stable  is  long 
and  where  there  are  a  good  many  cows  to- 


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ci^yyrnoA/     or    ^r/fi.U'i 


gether  there  is  no  objection  to  an  eight 
foot  ceiling.  A  good  deal  depends  on  the 
number  of  cows  kept.  A  stable  may  be 
built  on  this  ])lan  to  hold  twenty-four  cows 
or  it  may  be  made  long  enough  to  hold  one 


hundred.  The  principle  of  ventilation  de- 
pends on  the  circulation  of  air.  Warm  air 
is  lighter  than  cold  air  and  it  naturally 
goes  up.  In  order  to  ventilate  a  stable  we 
must  get  animals  enough  in  it  to  warm 
the  air.  There  is  little  or  no  circulation  in 
a  cold  room.  For  the  ventilation  to  work 
right  the  temperature  in  a  stable  should 


not  go  below  55  degrees.  This  plan  takes 
the  air  in  at  the  center  in  front  of  the  cows 
where  the  cows  may  breathe  the  clean 
fresh  air  from  outside  before  it  becomes 
contaminated.  The  hot  breath  of  the  cows 
goes  to  the  ceiling,  spreads  in  all  directions 
to  the  sides  of  the  room  while  it  loads  up 
with  impurities  and  finally  settles  to  the 
floor  at  the  sides  of  the  stable  where  it  is 
drawn  ofif  by  the  ventilators  and  sent  out 
through  the  roof.  In  order  for  the  ventilat- 
ing system  to  work  right  the  stable  must 
be  practically  air  tight  around  the  sides 
and  ceiling  and  the  doors  must  fit  well. 
There  is  a  light  sill  six  by  six  bedded  in 
fresh  cement  mortar  on  top  of  the  walls, 
two  by  six  studding  seven  feet  long  toe- 
nailed into  the  sill  and  a  two  by  six  plate 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


119 


spiked  on  top  of  the  studding.  Building 
paper  is  nailed  to  the  studding  both  inside 
and  out.  The  inside  is  lined  with  matched 
ceiling  without  bead.  This  is  to  eliminate 
all  cracks  and  joints  as  far  as  possible. 
There  are  no  cracks  and  places  for  dust  to 
lodge  as  all  stable  dust  is  bacteria  laden. 
In  like  manner  building  paper  is  tacked  to 
the  ceiling  joists  and  under  the  paper  a 
light  matched  ceiling  is  nailed  so  that  the 
whole  room  is  smooth  around  and  there 
are  no  projections  or  shelves  of  any  kind 
to  hold  dust.  The  stall  partitions  are  as 
light  as  possible  for  the  same  reason.  Door 
and  window  frames  are  made  flush  on  the 
inside  and  just  a  light  four  inch  casing 
turned  to  cover  the  joint.  It  is  better  to 
use  a  great  deal  of  care  in  laying  thf,  build- 


ventilation  to  keep  the  loft  cool.  The  out- 
side of  the  stable  is  boarded  up  with  pat- 
ent siding  and  a  light  box  cornice  makes 
the  finish  at  the  eaves.  The  ventilating 
system  is  shown  in  the  cuts.  It  pays  to 
to  put  on  an  eave  trough  whether  the  water 
is  wanted  for  use  or  not  because  the  drip 
from  the  eaves  will  cause  dampness  and 
this  should  be  avoided.  Because  the  build- 
ing is  low  a  light  roof  is  sufficient.  Two 
by  four  rafters  are  heavy  enough  if  well 
supported  by  cross  collar  beams. 

The  Silos 

In  this  plan  the  silos  are  placed  at  the 
end  of  the  stable.  If  the  stable  is  long  how- 
ever it  is  better  to  put  the  silos  in  the  mid- 
dle.    It  will  save  steps  at  feeding  time.  It 


ing  paper  around  all  such  places  to  prevent 
air  openings.  It  is  not  intended  to  use  the 
loft  over  this  stable  for  storage  or  any  pur- 
pose but  it  is  better  to  build  the  loft  so 
that  it  may  be  swept  occassionally  to  clear 
out  the  dust.  A  window  is  placed  in  each 
gable  for  the  purpose  of  causing  sufficient 


is  better  to  have  two  small  silos  than  one 
large  one.  From  sixteen  to  twenty  feet 
in  diameter  is  big  enough  for  any  silo.  The 
surface  may  then  be  fed  off  every  day  and 
the  silage  kept  fresh  at  all  times.  The  milk 
room  is  at  the  side  of  the  silo.  The  floor 
and  sides  are  built  entirely  of  cement  and 


I20 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


the  room  has  a  white  matched  ceiling.  It 
is  provided  with  an  open  drain  that  con- 
nects with  the  main  drain  outside  of  the 
building.  The  milk  room  contains  a  sep- 
arator, scales,  Babcock  tester  and  a  shelf 
to  hold  the  smaller  utensils  and  a  porcelain 
lined  sink  for  washing  dishes.  Outside  of 
the  milk  room  is  a  rack  to  hold  the  cans 
where  they  are  turned  upside  down  every 
morning  in  the  sun.  Beyond  the  silos  and 
milk  room  is  the  barn  where  the  roughage 
is  kept  and  the  track  from  the  stable  runs 
across  so  the  feed  may  be  brought  by  an 
overhead  track  carrier.  The  silos  are  at 
the  north  end  of  the  building.  The  manure 
is  taken  out  through  the  south  doors.  The 
cows  are  also  let  in  and  out  of  the  south 
doors.  This  style  of  stable  should  be  built 
north  and  south  so  that  the  sun  will  shine 
in  at  all  of  the  windows. 

Silo  Construction 

The  cheapest  form  of  a  silo  is  the  round 
stave  construction.  It  is  about  as  good 
as  any,  too,  when  it  is  thoroughly  well 
built  from  well  seasoned  lumber;  in  fact, 
it  has  been  thoroughly  demonstrated  that 
the  stave  silo  is  a  success.  In  New  Jersey 
and  Eastern  Pennsylvania  the  stave  silo 
is  almost  universally  used.  They  do  not 
last  as  long  as  some  others.  Probably  the 
average  life  of  a  stave  silo  is  somewhere 
between  five  and  ten  years.  But  a  farmer 
can  tear  down  and  rebuild  because  the  ma- 
terial is  comparatively  cheap  and  there  is 
not  much  of  it.  In  some  parts  of  the  coun- 
try there  is  a  prejudice  against  this  form 
of  silo.  Some  claim  that  the  silage  is  not 
so  good,  but  it  would  be  difificult  to  sub- 
stantiate this  claim.  Of  course,  to  keep 
silage  properly  in  any  kind  of  a  silo  it  must 
be  air  tight.  If  a  stave  silo  leaks  at  the 
joints  the  silage  will  suflfcr,  but  the  same 
may  be  said  of  any  make  of  silo. 

Some  of  this  prejudice  comes  from  the 
dairy  farmers  who  formerly  had  exper- 
ience with  stave  silos  which  were  construc- 
ted by  putting  rough  planks  together  with- 
out beveling  the  edges,  but  the  way  staves 
are  made  now  with  bevels  carefully  cut  to 
fit  the  circle  and  provided  with  heavy  iron 
hoops,  and  plenty  of  them,  there  is  prob- 


ably no  better  construction.  Some  stave 
silos  have  round  tongues  and  grooves. 
This  is  better  than  a  plain  straight  bevel, 
but  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary.  The 
ends  of  the  staves  where  they  butt  to- 
gether are  fitted  with  an  iron  tongue  let 
into  a  saw  cut  in  each  end  of  the  abutting 
staves. 

A  convenient  height  for  a  silo  of  this 
kind  is  thirty-two  feet  made  from  sixteen 
foot  stuff,  but  some  staves  must  be  eight 
feet  long  in  order  to  break  joints.  Most 
stave  silos  erected  are  bought  from  some 
manufacturer  who  has  a  patent  on  some 
little  contrivance  in  connection  with  their 
manufacture,  but  any  farmer  can  order 
the  material  and  build  his  own  silo  if  he 
wishes  to  do  so.  The  mills  will  cut  and 
bevel  the  staves  and  tongue  and  groove 
them  to  fit  any  circle  desired,  but  it  is 
necessary  to  understand  all  the  little  de- 
tails and  see  that  they  are  properly  worked 
■)ut.  A  good  many  of  the  patent  silos  have 
an  iron  framework  to  hold  the  doors.  This 
is  an  advantage  inasmuch  as  wood  gets 
damp  and  swells,  but  any  carpenter  can 
bolt  two  timbers  together  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  a  good  framework  to  hold  the 
doors,  and  the  saving  in  expense  is  con- 
siderable. The  doors  may  be  made  loose 
and  calked  around  the  edges  with  tow  or 
the  soft  parts  of  corn  stalks  makes  very 
good  calking  material.  In  fact,  there  are 
a  great  many  different  ways  to  manage 
if  a  person  is  determined  to  have  a  silo, 
but  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  doors 
are  a  particular  part.  The  framework 
must  be  solid  and  there  must  be  ample 
space  between  the  doors  for  the  hoops. 

Figures  on  all  Cuts  Correspond. 

A — Drain  tile. 

B — Gas  pipe  1%  inch  for  stall  parti- 
tions, chain  ring  and  ceiling  supports. 

C — Ventilation  intake. 

D — Stable  floor  where  cows  stand  hav- 
ing an  incline  of  two  inches. 

E — Cement  manger  having  an  incline 
of  %  inch  per  ten  feet. 

F — Cow  chains. 

G — Manure  carriers. 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


121 


H — Car  tracks,  should  be  near  the  ceil- 
ing to  give  plenty  of  head  room. 

I — Hood  ventilator,  tail  on  opening  side 
with  counter  weight  to  prevent  friction, 
and  allow  it  to  turn  easily.  This  hood 
does  not  touch  the  pipe  but  turns  on  a 
spindle  which  passes  through  the  upper 
cross  piece  in  the  pipe  and  is  socketed  in 
the  lower  cross  piece  about  three  feet 
down  in  the  pipe. 

J — Ventilator  shaft  drawing  foul  air 
from  near  the  floor. 


K — Register  for  use  in  hot  weather  to 
draw  off  the  hot  air  when  the  stable  doors 
are  open. 

L — Register  that  may  be  partially 
closed  to  regulate  intake  of  fresh  air. 

M — Register  to  regulate  the  amount  of 
draft  allowed  to  foul  air.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  important  features  of  the  sys- 
tem as  the  warmth  of  the  stable  as  well  as 
the  quality  of  the  air  is  controlled  by  it. 

O — Galvanized  iron  gutter. 


DAIRY  BANK  BARN— A125 

An  old  fashioned  dairy  barn  is  shown  in     the  ventilation.  To  have  good  air  in  a  cow 


plan  (A125).  There  are  a  good  many  such 
barns  still  in  use   in  Wisconsin.     Those 


stable  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a 
system  of  ventilation.   You  can  stable  four 


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using  them  say  they  are  satisfactory  under     or    five    cows    together    and    depend    on 

certain  conditions.  chance    openings   to    provide    them   with 

One  good  feature  about  this  stable  is     oxygen,  but  you  cannot  depend  on  Prov- 


129 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


idence  to  keep  your  cattle  alive  in  a  large 
stable  unless  you  assist  a  little  bit. 

A  good  many  dairymen  prefer  to  have 
the  cows  face  outward.     This  is  a  matter 


way.  One  advantage  of  having  the  two 
manure  gutters  in  the  middle  is  that  a  cart 
may  be  driven  through  to  remove  the  ma- 
nure.    If  there  is  any  other  good  reason 


of  individual  preference.  Probably  nine 
stables  out  of  ten  are  made  to  face  the 
cows  in,  but  this  is  no  dead  open  and  shut 
reason  why  this  stable  should  be  built  that 


£:nd  .s£ct/oa/ 

I  am  not  familiar  with  it.  In  these  Wis- 
consin stables  the  old  fashioned  stanchions 
are  used. 

There  is  a  large  amount  of  storage  over- 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


123 


head  in  a  barn  like  this,  and  it  is  a  conven-  walls  of  this  building,  concrete  of  course 
ient  barn  to  do  the  work  in  except  in  the  will  answer  the  purpose  just  as  well,  in 
matter  of  feeding  the  cows.    It  takes  more     fact  concrete  is  better  than  stone  when  it 


steps  to  get  around  to  feed  the  cows  when 
they  face  out.  This  barn  is  backed  up  to 
a  bank,  preferably  on  the  north  side,  where 


s£:cr/oA/  or  ^rA^A/c/z/oA/^ 

the  incline  may  be  had  easily  to  drive  in 
on  the  main  floor.  The  horse  fork  is 
worked  from  the  center. 

Although   stone  is  stipulated    for    the 


is  properly  made.  Concrete  is  damp- 
proof  when  the  materials  are  so  mixed  that 
the  sand  fills  the  spaces  between  the  brok- 
en rock  and  the  cement  fills  the  spaces  be- 
tween the  grains  of  sand.  Then  if  the 
mixing  is  thoroughly  done  and  just 
enough  water  used  to  thoroughly  amalga- 
mate the  different  ingredients  into  one 
solid  mass  it  will  make  a  wall  that  damp- 
ness cannot  penetrate. 

This  way  of  mixing  concrete  is  not  only 
the  best,  but  it  is  usually  cheaper  because 
it  requires  less  cement.  By  actual  exper- 
iments it  has  been  proven  that  when  the 
proportions  are  exactly  right  as  stated 
the  resulting  concrete  is  not  only  stronger 
but  cheaper  than  when  a  richer  mixture 
is  put  together.  Of  course  the  wall  under 
a  barn  like  this  may  be  poorly  constructed 
and  still  support  the  barn  for  a  lifetime. 
At  the  same  time  if  you  can  make  a  wall 
that  is  harder  and  better  than  stone  for 
the  same  amount  of  money  it  is  much  bet- 
ter to  do  so.  In  making  the  floor  of  course 
you  work  on  a  dififerent  plan  because  a 
stable  floor  receives  a  great  deal  of  wear. 


124 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


COMBINED  BARN  AND  COVERED   BARNYARD— A102 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 

A  great  many  dairmen  like  to  have  a     sloping  to  the  south.  There  is  a  good  root 

covered  barnyard  for  the  cows  to  exercise     cellar  in  the  bank  next  to  the  building  on 

in  and  some  go  so  far  as  to  keep  the  cows     the  north  side  and  the  large  roof  surface  is 

in  this  covered  barnyard  both  night  and     utilized  to  furnish  water  for  the  cistern. 


^/o£r  cLcyyfno/v    or  ^w/f/v  /ia/o  y^/fo 
day,  just  stabling  them  long  enough  to     A  cistern  filter  is  placed  inside  the  building 
milk  and  feed  grain  and  silage.    In  some     so  it  won't  freeze.    To  have  nice  cistern 


r^OM/    eLcy^r/OAf  or  s^/t/^  /ta/o  y^/to 
part  of  the  countrv  the  covered  barnyard     water  it  is  best  to  run  it  through  a  filter, 
is  growing  in  favor.  The  feed  racks  in  the  covered  barnyard 

The  plan,  (A102),  is  designed  for  a  bank     are   made    movable    to    facilitate    driving 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


125 


through  at  cleaning  time.  Mild  days  in 
winter  the  manure  spreader  is  brought  in 
at  one  door,  loaded  and  taken  out  at  the 
other.  The  racks  are  placed  in  the  cen- 
ter under  the  feed  chutes  so  the  roughage 
from  the  storage  above  may  be  dropped  in- 
to them  with  as  little  work  as  possible. 


A  bull  pen  is  shown  in  the  northeast 
corner  with  the  yard  outside  for  exercise. 
It  depends  somewhat  on  the  slope  of  the 
bank  whether  this  is  the  best  place  to  put 
the  bull  pen  or  not.  You  want  the  bull 
yard  out  of  the  way,  still  it  should  be  in 
full  view  of  the  barn  yard,  both  for  con- 


With  a  cistern  and  a  windmill  the  water 
tank  is  kept  supplied  all  the  time  so  the 
cows  ma}^  run  to  it  when  they  want  to.  The 
stable  floor  should  be  about  two  feet  high- 
er than  the  floor  in  the  covered  barnyard. 
This  gives  an  eight  foot  ceiling  for  the  sta- 
ble and  a  ten  foot  ceiling  in  the  yard. 


venience  in  feeding  ana  ^.tending  to  the 
bull,  and  to  keep  the  animal  from  becom- 
ing lonesome  and  cross.  Possibly  the 
position  of  the  bull  yard  and  the  cistern 
might  be  reversed  to  the  advantage  of 
both  as  it  would  give  more  bank  to  hold 
the  cistern  and  level  ground  for  the  bull. 


126 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


ROUND  DAIRY  BARN    A-205 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $20.00 


A  round  barn  should  have  a  silo  in  the 
center  and  the  silo  should  be  a  part  of  the 
barn.  Round  barns  are  not  very  fashion- 
able considering  the  number  that  one  may 
see  in  a  day's  travel,  but  there  are  many 
features  to  recommend  them. 

Generally  speaking  the  greatest  possi- 
ble cubic  space  according  to  the  amount 
of  material  may  be  enclosed  in  a  round 
barn  and  the  silo  being  in  the  center 
makes  it  easy  to  feed  the  stock  because 


proof  that  the  cement  silo  is  the  best  un- 
der all   circumstances. 

^\'hether  a  cement  or  wooden  silo  is 
built  the  frame  work  of  the  barn  is  of 
light  construction,  and  is  framed  into  the 
silo.  The  whole  structure  is  so  braced 
from  every  direction  that  there  is  no 
necessity  of  having  a  heavy  frame- 
work. In  the  first  place  a  circular  cement 
wall  is  built  for  the  silo  and  another  cir- 
cular wall  extending  down  below  frost  is 


^jL  .^'i/^T/<^^ 


all  the  stalls  may  be  placed  within  easy 
reach. 

A  cement  silo  is  more  desirable  because 
it  is  durable  but  the  first  cost  is  greater. 
W'ooden  silos  rot  out  in  a  few  years'  time 
and  certain  parts  of  them  must  be  replac- 
ed, but  this  need  not  be  taken  as  positive 


built  around  outside  of  the  barn.  This 
wall  reaches  up  about  a  foot  above  grade 
with  the  exception  only  of  the  doors  to 
drive  through  and  at  these  places  the  wall 
is  widened  to  make  a  slanting  bridge  ap- 
proach from  the  outside  up  to  the  level  of 
the  stable  floor.     These  approaches  are 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


127 


reinforced  with  strong  cement  mortar  to 
make  them  durable. 

Circular  sills  may  be  built  up  on  this 
wall  or  the  studding  may  be  set  up  on  the 
cement  and  tied  together  both  inside  and 


holding  a  cask  together,  the  only  excep- 
tion being  at  the  doorways,  and  provision 
may  be  made  here  to  let  the  door  posts 
into  a  recess  in  the  wall.  Two  by  four 
or  two  by  six  studding  may  be  used  ac- 


jE:      -^^wC,^ 


y'^^Ay 


out  with  an  extra  piece  bent  around  and 
nailed  firmly  to  each  end.  In  fact  the  cir- 
cular outside  boarding  makes  the  sides 
very  solid  without  anything  extra  at  the 
bottom  because  the  boarding  running 
round  and  round  is  like  so  many  hoops 


cording  to  the  distance  apart  and  the  size 
of  the  barn. 

The  joists  all  point  to  the  center,  the 
outer  ends  being  spiked  to  the  studding 
and  the)^  are  again  spiked  together  at  the 
laps.     The  joists  are  suspended  at  inter- 


128 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


vals  by  girths  and  these  girths  are  sup- 
ported by  the  stall  or  pen  partitions.  It 
should  be  remembered  here  that  the  prin- 
cipal weight  comes  on  these  supports  and 
they  should  be  heavy  enough  to  carry  the 
load. 

In  a  large  barn  like  the  plan  shown,  two 
by  six  for  outside  studding  will  be  found 
sufficient,  especially  as  there  are  so  many 
of  them.  The  plan  shows  a  barn  eighty 
feet  in  diameter,  but  these  barns  may  be 
built  in  any  size  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
feet  with  a  silo  in  the  center  about  twenty 
feet  across. 

The  size  of  the  silo  must  be  determined 
by  the  number  of  head  of  stock.  Silage 
must  be  fed  down  about  two  inches  every 
day  to  keep  it  fresh  and  in  good  condition. 

The  roof  is  just  as  strong  as  the  other 


construction  with  rafters  all  radiating 
from  the  silo  to  the  eaves.  The  roof 
boards  are  put  on  in  circles  so  that  the 
roof  is  actually  hooped,  as  well  as  the  sides 
of  the  building.  A  cyclone  might  lift  such 
a  roof  and  roll  it  around  the  country  like 
a  cart  wheel,  but  it  would  hardly  break  to 
pieces.  Hay  fork  tracks  in  a  round  barn 
are  suspended  in  circular  form  from  a 
clear  space  left  for  the  purpose,  a  little 
nearer  the  silo  than  the  middle,  because 
the  mow  grows  deeper  as  you  work  to- 
wards the  center. 

In  a  round  dairy  barn  the  stalls  are  all 
built  so  the  cows  face  together,  which  is 
convenient  for  removing  the  manure.  A 
circular  track  for  the  manure  carrier 
should  extend  all  the  way  around  the  barn 
behind  the  cows  to  facilitate  easy  cleaning. 


STORAGE  BARN  WITH  DAIRY    STABLE  WING— A136 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15,00 
A  great  many  dairymen  object  to  hav-     profitably  unless  the  rough  feed  and  straw 
ing  storage  of  any  kind  over  a  cow  stable,     may  be  reached  easily.   Labor  is  so  expen- 


CO/fM    C/fIB 


There  is  more  or  less  dust  from  the  mows,  sive  that  even  the  steps  necessary  while 
and  the  dust  is  objectionable  for  several  feeding  must  be  counted  and  reckoned  in 
reasons.   But  it  is  impossible  to  keep  cows     the  cost.    If  there  is  no  storage  over  the 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


129 


cows  there  must  be  storage  near  by.  The 
silo  in  this  plan  is  placed  at  the  side  about 
midway  along  the  length  of  the  stable  for 


age  barn  easily  accessible  to  the  stable.  It 
would  not  be  necessary  to  have  a  door  at 
the  outer  end  of  the  feed  alley,  but  it  is 


^loc  ELCy,vr/o/i/ 


easy  feeding.  This  position  also  makes 
it  easy  to  get  the  green  cut  stalks  into  the 
silo  at  filling  time. 

Not  much  corn  is  fed  to  dairy  cows,  but 


very  handy  in  the  summer  time  if  green 
feed  is  fed  to  the  cows  in  the  stable. 

In    the    storage    barn    the    hay    mow 
reaches  from  the  ground  to  the  roof.   For 


TIT 


T 


eoi  4r0iL\ 

i 

^  L 

'~V2'o<)/f  fLfiN  or  c/ir'rt.c  ajt/f/^ 

the  crib  is  not  far  away  from  either  cows  comfort  in  cold  weather  it  is  better  to 

or  horses.  A  dairy  room  ten  b}^  seventeen  board  up  the  side  of  this  mow  to  the  floor 

ieet  is  built  in  the  corner  next  to  the  stor-  over  the  driveway.  It  is  necessary  to  have 


130 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


an  opening  through  the  floor  over  the 
driveway  to  use  a  hay  fork.  The  opening 
may  be  boarded  around  and  used  as  a 
chute  to  pitch  hay  down  through  for  feed- 


ing, but  such  details  must  depend  to  a 
great  extent  upon  the  kind  of  farming  car- 
ried on  and  the  other  buildings  on  the 
farm. 


MODEL  COW  BARN— A 1 58 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 


The  size  of  this  cow  stable  is  thirty- 
eight  feet  six  by  one  hundred  and  forty- 
two  feet  and  it  has  a  capacity  for  housing 
fifty-two  cows.  It  was  designed  very  care- 
fully to  provide  every  comfort  for  a  herd 
of  thoroughbred  Guernseys. 

The  entire  floor  is  made  of  concrete,  in- 
cluding manger  and  manure  drains  which 


The  mangers  are  also  connected  with 
the  sewer  so  that  the  cows  may  be  watered 
in  the  manger  and  the  surplus  water  im- 
mediately drawn  off. 

A  space  of  two  feet  high  between  the 
studding  of  the  outer  walls  is  filled  in  with 
concrete  and  troweled  smooth  with  a  curve 
at  the  floor  line  to  leave  no  chance  for  the 


<.. 


— t: 


*■ 


0>5S 


•/O/vy 


--I    I    f^ 1^-^. 

"-ft--' -'-%-•., 

^1 


t 


carry  the  liquid  manure  back  to  the  ma- 
nure pits.  They  are  also  connected  with 
the  sewer  drain  so  that  the  wash  water 
from  flooding  the  floors  can  be  carried 
away  to  a  safe  distance. 


collection  of  filth  to  favor  the  breeding  of 
disease  germs.  Gas  piping  is  used  for 
stalls  set  firmly  in  the  cement.  Each  stall 
is  finished  with  individual  wrought  iron 
hay  racks  made  to  swing  up. 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


131 


lb    _ 

s^"^ 

H^ 

$ 

r 

1 

132 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


There  is  a  cement  top  to  the  concrete 
floor  which  is  finished  rough  enough  to 
prevent  sHpping  and  to  hold  the  bedding. 
Cows  in  this  stable  face  towards  the  cen- 
ter and  the  center  aisle  is  wide  enough  to 


ing  loaded  into  cars  and  wheeled  through 
the  feed  alley  to  the  mangers. 

Light  and  ventilation  were  main  fea- 
tures in  the  construction  of  this  stable. 
Careful  calculations  were  made  to  secure 


drive  through  with  a  wagon  and  hay-rack 
for  hauling  loose  hay  and  fodder.  The 
silos  are  located  at  the  end,  the  silage  be- 


plenty  of  fresh  air  for  each  animal  as  the 
sanitary  conditions  with  such  a  valuable 
herd  of  animals  is  an  important  feature. 


This  cow  barn  is 
eighty-one  feet  long  and  will  accommo- 
date twenty-four  cows.  There  is  a  feed 
room,  wash  room  for  washing  utensils 
and  an  office.  Along  one  side  a  silo  is 
placed  near  the  mixing  room  and  conven- 
ient to  the  feed  alleys  which  in  this  stable 
are  at  the  sides. 

The  manure  gutters  and  floor  for  clean- 
ing is  in  the  center  so  that  in  this  stable 
the  cows  face  outward.  This  arrangement 
makes  it  easier  to  remove  the  manure  and 
the  plan  is  liked  by  some  dairymen. 

The  balloon  roof  construction  makes  it 
possible  to  store  a  great  deal  of  feed  over 
head.  It  leaves  a  clear  space  for  the  horse 
fork  which  works  freely  from  one  end  of 
the  building  to  the  other.  Roofs  like  this 
are  comparatively  new.  The  first  ones 
built   were   not   strong  enough   to   stand 


BARN  FOR  DAIRY  COWS— A162 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 
forty   feet   wide   by     heavy  winds  and  some  of  them  blew  down, 


but  there  has  been  no  such  trouble  re- 
cently. If  properly  braced  each  side  forms 
a  truss  and  the  two  trusses  meet  together 
at  the  peak. 

There  are  hay  chutes  at  the  sides  for 
putting  down  hay  and  bedding  and  there 
is  a  stairway  at  the  side  of  the  office  for 
convenience  in  getting  up  and  down. 

To  help  out  in  feeding  time  there  should 
be  a  silage  carrier  to  run  from  the  silo 
down  the  different  alleys  to  distribute  the 
feed.  If  a  farmer  wants  to  know  the  num- 
ber of  miles  traveled  about  the  stable  it 
is  only  necessary  to  figure  the  number  of 
trips  and  steps  taken  each  feeding  time, 
then  multiply  this  by  the  number  of  feeds 
during  the  winter.  If  every  dairyman 
would  do  this  the  location  of  some  silos 
would  be  changed.    The  amount  of  travel 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


133 


h "- 


134 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


will     surprise    those    who    have    never 
thought  about  it.     This  is  one  reason  for 
placing  the  silo  at  the  side. 

The  manure  alley  in  the  center  is  wide 
enough  to  drive  the  manure  spreader 
right  through,  loading  it  in  the  meantime 


so  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  a  pile  of 
manure  outside  of  the  stable.  Manure  is 
worth  a  great  deal  more  when  it  is  drawn 
immediately  from  the  stable  to  the  field. 
This  barn  looks  well  and  it  is  a  good  prac- 
tical barn. 


STABLE  FOR  TWENTY-FOUR   COWS— Aioi 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 


This  plan  provides  stabling  complete 
for  twenty-four  cows  with  calf  pen,  bull 
pen,  two  box  stalls,  a  feed  room  and  a 
wash  room.  This  plan  offers  the  advant- 
age of  a  wide  driveway  through  the  cen- 
ter feed  alley  which  is  a  great  advantage 
in  the  summer  time  when  green  feed  is 


inches  apart  from  centers.  This  gives 
about  three  inches  in  the  clear  between  the 
pickets.  The  object  in  this  is  to  let  the 
bull  see  everything  that  is  going  on  in  the 
stable.  It  makes  a  bull  much  more  con- 
tented and  he  is  less  liable  to  become  cross. 
A  bull  needs  company  just  as  much  as  any 


J/Z7£"  £L£:y}9r/0A^  or  D/7//?y  B/7/fN 


used  for  soiling  i)urposcs  and  hauled  di- 
rectly on  hay-racks  from  the  fields  to  the 
cows  in  the  stable. 

There  is  an  advantage  in  having  a  bull 
pen  arranged  in  this  manner.  The  door 
at  the  corner  opens  into  the  yard  for  exer- 
cise and  the  pen  inside  is  made  of  one  and 
one-half  inch  gas  pipe  pickets  placed  five 


other  animal.  A  great  deal  of  trouble  has 
come  from  shutting  bulls  u])  in  tight  pens 
where  they  become  lonesome  and  morose. 
Box  stalls  are  boarded  to  the  ceiling  and 
made  as  warm  and  as  comfortable  as  pos- 
sible. 

The  width  of  this   stable   is   thirty-six 
feet,  rather  wider  than  usual  but  it  allows 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


135 


ample  room  for  the  driveway  in  the  center 
and  a  g"God  passageway  behind  the  cows 
besides  giving  room  enough  to  place  the 
feed  room,  box  stalls  and  other  pens  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  driveway  in  one  end 


steps  at  feeding  time.  One  great  advant- 
age with  this  stable  is  the  number  of  win- 
dows. The  windows  extend  from  the  ceil- 
ing to  within  three  feet  of  the  floor  which 
is   a  great  advantage   in  admitting  sun- 


r/!OA/r  £i.cr/rT/o»    or  ofl/z^r  b^/ta 


of  the  stable.  The  length  of  the  building 
is  eighty-four  feet,  but  of  course  it  could 
be  extended  if  more  room  is  desired  with- 


shine.  The  manger  in  this  stable  is  placed 
two  inches  above  the  floor.  It  is  two  feet 
wide  and  six  inches  deep  and  the  bottom 


4-..n I  I  I  I  I 


i>f/y£irvy 


-Hfl  I  I i.  I  I  M  I  I 


rioo/f  fjjTM  or  Afoocfiu  oj!my  Bnajt 


T^^3 


out  altering  the  width  or  the  general  plan. 

Placing  the  silo  near  the  middle  of  the 

building  saves  carrying  the  silage  more 

than  fifty  feet  which  is  a  great  saving  of 


is  slightly  rounded.  Three  feet  six  inches 
are  allowed  for  the  width  of  the  stalls  with 
a  standing  floor  four  feet  ten  inches.  Of 
course  both  the  length  and  width  of  the 


1^6 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


stalls  should  be  made  to  fit  the  cows.  For 
an  extra  large  Holstein  a  four  foot  stall 
with  a  five  foot  length  may  not  be  too 
much  but  four  feet  ten  inches  by  three  and 
one-half  feet  is  big  enough  for  most  cows 
and  it  is  too  much  for  some.  A  perfect  cow 
stall  has  never  been  invented.  If  some 
dairymen  wishes  to  be  honored  by  poster- 
ity he  should  get  busy  and  invent  a  cow 
stall  that  will  be  thoroughly  satisfactory 
under  all  circumstances. 

The  calf  pen  in  this  plan  meets  the  views 
of  the  best  dairymen  who  have  examined 
it.  It  is  twenty-one  by  eleven  feet  with  a 
manger  in  front  for  grain  feeding  and  a 
hay-rack  along  the  back  wall.  Individual 
stanchions  are  provided  for  use  when  feed- 
ing the  calves  grain  or  milk.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  devise  a  better  arrangement  for 
calves  and  we  all  know  that  the  calves  of 
this  year  are  the  cows  of  two  years  hence 
and  the  value  of  the  cow  depends  on  the 
quality  of  the  calf  and  the  feed  and  care 
given  it. 

A  silo  for  twenty-eight  cows  should  hold 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  tons.  This 
amount  will  rather  more  than  feed  the 
cows  during  the  winter  but  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  have  a  little  silage  left  over  to  help 
out  the  green  feed  in  summer  time.   A  silo 


sixteen  feet  in  diameter  and  thirty-two 
feet  high  is  very  satisfactory. 

The  milk  room  is  not  exactly  separate 
but  it  is  built  on  the  front  and  there  are 
two  spring  doors  to  shut  out  the  odors  of 
the  stable.  This  building  provides  for  stor- 
age over  the  stable  with  a  feed  chute  in 
one  corner  of  the  feed  room.  There  is  a 
large  door  between  this  feed  room  and  the 
alley  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  dust 
from  flying  out  into  the  stable.  This  feed 
chute  is  large  enough  so  that  hay,  straw 
or  any  roughage  may  be  dropped  into  it 
from  above  in  sufficient  quantity  at  one 
time.  The  door  may  then  be  opened  and 
the  stuff  forked  out.  There  is  also  a  small 
door  opening  from  the  chute  into  the  feed 
room.  This  is  for  the  purpose  of  mixing 
together  feed  with  chopped  stuff  in  case 
the  owner  puts  a  cutting  box  overhead. 

Because  of  the  storage  room  above,  the 
upper  floor  is  made  double  thickness  with 
two  thicknesses  of  paper  between,  match- 
ed flooring  is  used  and  the  first  course  nail- 
ed to  the  joists  in  the  usual  way,  only  that 
the  dressed  side  is  placed  down.  The  two 
thicknesses  of  paper  are  then  put  on  and 
the  other  floor  laid  over  it  and  nailed  over 
the  joists,  the  workmen  being  guided  by 
chalk  lines  on  the  paper. 


COW  BARN  FOR  FORTY  COWS— Ai 59 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 


A  cow  barn  for  the  accommodation  of 
forty  cows  having  a  feed  alley  of  sufficient 
width  to  accommodate  a  wagon  with  a 
load  of  soiling  feeds  is  shown  in  this  plan. 
This  is  the  quickest  and  cheapest  way  of 
distributing  feeds  to  the  mangers  along 
both  sides  of  the  feed  alley. 

The  mangers  as  well  as  the  whole  floor 
surface  are  built  of  concrete  with  the  man- 
gers elevated  only  three  inches  above  the 
floor  level.  As  cows  naturally  feed  from 
the  ground  it  is  only  right  that  the  man- 
gers should  be  very  low  down.  The  side 
of  the  manger  nearest  the  cow  is  made  al- 
most perpendicular  to  prevent  feed  from 
working  over  amongst  the  bedding.  But 
the  feed  alley  floor  is  elevated  and  that 


side  of  the  manger  is  rounded  up  to  it 
which  makes  it  easy  to  keep  the  feed  in 
the  mangers  and  easy  to  kick  it  back  when 
the  cows  shove  it  out,  as  they  do  while 
feeding. 

A  water  faucet  is  placed  at  each  end  of 
the  manger  for  the  purpose  of  watering 
the  cows.  For  disposing  of  the  water  left 
in  the  manger  a  drain  in  the  center  with  an 
overflow  is  provided.  The  middle  posts 
extend  from  the  back  of  the  mangers  and 
run  to  the  roof  and  these  are  spaced  to  al- 
low three  stanchions  between  the  posts. 

A  gutter  sixteen  inches  wide  and  from 
five  to  eight  inches  deep  is  run  diagonally 
behind  the  cows,  starting  at  five  feet  four 
from  the  mangers  at  one  end  and  finishing 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


137 


138 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


up  at  the  other  end  five  feet  ten,  thus  mak- 
ing different  length  stalls  to  accommodate 
longer  or  shorter  cows. 

The  floor  of  the  stalls  is  given  a  slight 
slope  from  the  manger  back  to  the  gutter 
and  the  surface  of  the  floor  is  left  rough 
to  prevent  the  cows  from  slipping  and  to 
hold  the  bedding  in  place.  There  is  suf- 
ficient room  back  of  the  alley  to  run  a 
truck  or  wheelbarrow  to  facilitate  clean- 
ing out  the  manure.  The  liquids  of  course 
run  to  the  lowest  point  in  the  center  of  the 
gutters  where  they  are  connected  with  a 
bell  trap  drain,  whence  they  are  carried  to 
a  catch-basin  directly  opposite  the  drain 
outside  of  the  building.  From  this  catch- 
basin  the  liquids  are  pumped  into  the  dis- 
tributing manure  cart. 

All  side  walls  are  filled  in  solid  between 
the  timbers  with   cement   concrete   to   a 


height  of  two  feet  above  the  floor  and  then 
finished  with  smooth  cement  plaster  which 
makes  a  perfectly  sanitary  finish  and  per- 
mits the  entire  barn  floor  to  be  washed 
with  a  hose  and  flooded  with  water  with- 
out injuring  any  woodwork. 

Warmth  and  ventilation  are  secured  by 
fitting  the  size  of  stable  to  the  number  of 
animals  and  there  are  windows  enough  to 
admit  abundant  sunshine  which  is  nature's 
best  disinfectant.  Ventilators  and  fresh 
air  shafts  in  the  walls  supply  a  continuous 
stream  of  fresh  air  which  can  be  controlled 
by  slides.  The  foul  air  enters  the  shafts 
near  the  floor  and  rises  in  the  walls  to  the 
triangular  vent  duct  under  the  ridge  of  the 
roof  and  from  this  duct  the  air  is  ex- 
hausted through  the  slat  ventilator  tow- 
ers. About  1, 800  cubic  feet  of  air  space  is 
provided  for  each  animal. 


BARN  AT  MT.  CARMEL,  ILL.— A195 

The  barn  shown  is  on  a  one  hundred  and     is  simple  in  outline,  but  commodious  and 
twenty  acre  farm  near  Mt.  Carmel,  111.   It     very  serviceable. 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


139 


The  foundation  is  of  concrete  which  ex-     way  forming  a  cellar  7x12x20  ft.  in  which 
tends  7  ft.  deep  under  east  end  of  drive-     are  stored  fruits,  vegetables  and  perishable 


foods  and  feeds  for  both  family  and  live 
stock.  With  rope-and-puUey  device  a  bar- 
rel of  apples  or  a  bag  of  potatoes  may  be 
lowered  in  or  drawn  up  from  this  cellar. 
Elevation  and  plans  give  general  features 
of  the  structure,  showing  that  the  barn  is 
intended  to  stable  thirty-eight  cows  and 
there  is  provision  for  a  small  corn-crib, 
feed  room  and  milk  room.  The  idea  is  that 
later  when  the  business  grows  to  demand 
it  these  rooms  will  be  removed  to  an  out- 
side building,  or  separate  buildings,  and 
the  whole  floor  space  of  this  barn  given  up 
to  the  stable  proper. 


TWENTY-FOUR     COW     STABLE— A210 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 


It  will  be  noticed  that  about  one-third  of 
the  ground  space  of  this  dairy  stable  build- 
ing is  taken  up  with  creamery,  delivery 
room,  feed  room  and  work  shop.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  there  must  be  no 
tinkering  work  done  in  the  creamery  or 


delivery  room.  These  two  compartments 
must  be  kept  as  pure  and  clean  as  possible, 
or  the  brand  of  milk  required  by  the  boards 
of  health  cannot  be  manufactured.  Unless 
there  is  a  shop  for  tinkering  fitted  with  a 
desk  and  a  cupboard  to  hang  extra  cloth- 


I40 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


ing  these  things  will  accumulate  in  the 
creamery  and  delivery  room.  Then  when 
the  inspector  comes  around,  the  business 


being  taken  to  use  only  the  best  materials 
and  to  put  them  together  quickly  so  the 


of  that  farmer  is  classed  as  second  or  third  job  will  harden  at  one  time  and  set  to- 
rate  according  to  conditions  as  he  finds  gether  in  one  great  stone.  Above  the  con- 
them.  Crete  wall  the  structure  is  of  wood,  but  the 


'"  II       """      ■'  I       III'    .  ■■  "      '    ''      '"j  ™  « 


The  wall  and  floor  of  this  dairv  barn  is     lower  story  is  plastered  outside  with  ce- 
built  all  in  one  piece  of  cement,  great  care     ment.    All  windows  are  carefully  fitted  to 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


141 


keep  out  the  cold  in  winter  and  they  are 
supposed  to  be  kept  clean  at  all  times  to 
let  in  plenty  of  light. 

There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  among 
dairy  farmers  in  regard  to  the  center  drive- 
way between  the  mangers,  some  claiming 
that  this  space  is  greater  than  necessary 
and  that  it  adds  unnecessarily  to  the  width 
and  consequently  to  the  cost  of  the  build- 
ing, but  those  dairymen  who  feed  their 
cows  in  the  stable  in  the  summer  time  as 


;  r-^AP  Mix  2>C)ofii 


will  accommodate  a  large  feed  box  on 
wheels  which  may  be  pushed  back  and 
forth  to  the  silo  and  feed  mixing  room. 

Especial  pains  is  taken  with  the  parti- 
tion between  the  cow  stable  proper  and  the 
creamery  room.  It  is  made  solid  and  the 
door  is  carefully  fitted  and  supplied  with 
a  spring  to  keep  it  shut  in  order  to  protect 
the  milk  from  stable  odors.  Another  im- 
portant feature  is  to  front  the  stable  to- 
wards the  prevailing  winds  so  the  draft 


;^^J-SA.<:;£1 


cr^/TTZlfZ. 


^  1  II  r  1  I  I  I  I 


y<^^/^c-z:.*z^ 


2?/r/i^£\^A'y 


/VW/V<i'.£'/2- 


^r.  4^.-6 


<7L/Trz:Ti^ 


well  as  in  winter  like  to  drive  through 
with  a  hay-rack  loaded  with  green  feed 
brought  directly  from  the  fields,  because 
they  can  feed  the  cows  so  quickly  and  with 
the  least  possible  labor. 

The  feeding  may  be  done  in  the  same 
way  in  winter  by  bringing  roughage  from 
the  storage  barn,  as  the  same  driveway 


will  be  from  the  creamery  end  out  through 
the  stable.  Some  dairymen  make  the  mis- 
take of  creating  a  draft  the  wrong  way  and 
it  makes  a  lot  of  difiference  in  the  scientific 
production  of  clean  milk. 

When  a  man  goes  to  the  expense  of 
building  a  thoroughly  good  dairy  stable  he 
expects  to  manufacture  high  grade  milk 
and  to  secure  from  one  cent  to  five  cents 
per  quart  bottle  more  than  those  farmers 
who  work  along  in  the  old  fashioned  way. 
But  unless  all  these  details  are  considered 
and  carefully  worked  out  he  will  have  di- 
fficulty in  getting  his  price. 


PRACTICAL  COW  BARN— A208 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 
This  cow  barn  is  designed  for  a  cold  cli-     tect  the  stock  from  the  cold,  and  at  the 
mate  and  a  special  efifort  was  made  to  pro-     same  time  give  them  proper  ventilation 


142 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


and  a  continuous  supply  of  fresh  air  by 
means  of  air  ducts  built  in  the  walls,  which 
receive  the  air  near  the  ground  level  and 


the  floor  and  carry  it  to  the  ventilators 
on  the  roof,  which  are  controlled  by  a  cord, 
regulating  the  flow  of  air  as  desired. 


conduct  it  to  the  inside  of  the  barn  where  The  barn  is  located  on  the  slope  of  a  hill 
it  enters  the  stock  room  near  the  ceiling,  so  that  the  hay  can  be  hauled  directly  into 
Other  ducts  exhaust  all  the  foul  air  from     the  upper  floor,  and  the  walls  of  the  stock 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


143 


room  are  built  of  rubble  stone  18  inches 
thick;  this,  together  with  the  hay  above, 
makes  a  warm  stock  room. 

The  silo  is  located  at  the  center  of  the 
south  side,  where  it  is  convenient  for  feed- 
ing and  also  protected  from  the  north 
winds.  The  shelter  shed  is  also  located 
on  the  south  and  at  right  angles  to  the 


SSSS^25ECZ£; 


main  barn,  so  that  the  stock  is  well  pro- 
tected when  out  of  the  barn  in  severe 
weather.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  draw- 
ing, this  barn  is  40  by  100  feet,  and  con- 
tains stalls  for  forty-six  milch  cows,  be- 
sides loose  stalls  for  calves,  dry  stock,  bull, 
etc.    At  the  west  end  is  a  feed  room  with 


bins  connected  by  spouts  to  larger  bins  on 
the  floor  above ;  also  stairwa}'  to  the  up- 
per floor,  and  on  the  east  end  is  a  manure 
pit  covered  by  an  extension  of  the  shelter 
shed  roof. 

The  cross  section  clearly  shows  the  gen- 
eral arrangement  of  stalls,  mangers,  gut- 
ters, etc.,  all  constructed  out  of  cement  laid 
on  solid  ground.  The  stall  partitions  are 
built  up  out  of  wrought  iron  bars  and 
pipes,  leaving  nothing  to  get  out  of  order 
or  decay.  The  wood  superstructure  is 
constructed  out  of  plank,  and  the  roof  is 
self-supporting,  without  posts  or  purlins, 
by  each  set  of  rafters  braced,  forming  a 


wrJT     ELE.  l*\T/<3i/V 


continuous  arch  from  one  sill  to  the  other. 

This  roof  gives  an  enormous  capacity 
to  the  hay  room  and  is  well  braced  against 
sagging  and  wind  pressure. 

The  exterior  of  the  barn  is  sided  with 
matched  siding  and  the  roof  is  of  shingles, 
making  a  very  durable  and  good  looking 
building,  and  at  the  same  time  a  barn  that 
can  be  built  within  a  reasonable  figure. 


FORTY  COW  BARN— A209 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $25.00 


A  large  modern  dairy  farm  building  of 
exceptional  completeness  and  convenience 
of  arrangement  is  presented  herewith.  In 
the  one  building  are  grouped  the  accom- 
modations for  the  three  branches  of  dairy 
farming:  There  are,  first,  sanitary  stab- 
ling for  forty  milch  cows,  twelve  dry  cows, 
two  bulls  and  numerous  calves;  second, 
improved  storage  capacity,  accurately  fig- 


ured, for  ensilage,  grain,  roots,  dry  fodder 
and  bedding  sufficient  for  that  number  of 
cattle;  and,  third,  a  well-equipped  milk 
cooling  and  shipping  department. 

For  a  barn  of  such  large  capacity  the  ar- 
rangement in  this  case  is  very  good.  The 
general  form  of  the  building  is  that  of  a 
cross.  The  stanchions  are  arranged  in  a 
double  row  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  long 


14^ 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


cross  member;  the  feed  storage  section, 
extending  back  at  right  angles  to  this, 
joins  it  at  the  middle.  There,  two  large 
silos  are  located  with  the  feed  mixing  floor 
between — thus  having  a  very  central  loca- 
tion.    The  grain  bins  are  next  the  silos. 


filled  from  the  outside  through  inclined 
chutes.  In  that  way  the  reinforced  con- 
crete floor  was  not  weakened  by  trap  door 
openings  through  it. 

This  design  provides  for  the  rain  water 
from  the  roof   to   be   conducted   to   two 


r'ROr^  T      ELC^^TiOrJ 


extending  28  feet  from  the  ground  floor  to  buried  cisterns,  from  whence  it  is  pumped 

the  plate  and  provided  with  a  continuous  to  a  large  tank  overhead,  as  needed, 
cup  conveyor,  operated  by  a  small  electric         In  the  front  of  the  building,  completely 

motor,  for  elevating  the  grain.  separated  from  the  barn  and  stable,  are 


A  feature  in  connection  with  the  root  the  oflice  and  milk  handling  rooms.     As 

cellars  is  worthy  of  notice.  ,  They  are  lo-  will  be  observed  from   the  plans  the  ice 

cated  on  the  ground  floor  under  the  "barn  house  is  very  conveniently  located  to  the 

floor"  or  elevated   driveway.     They  are  cooling  room.     A  detail  drawing  of  the 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


146 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


milk  cooler  is  given,  showing  the  ice  bunk-         Calcium  chloride  is  a  substance  which 
er  and  compartment  for  the  milk  cans  in     increases  the  capacity  of  brine  to  maintain 


cross  section.    All  the  walls  and  covers  of 
this  chest  are  made  very  heavy,  built  up  in 


layers  of  insulating  material  to  keep  out 
the  heat.  It  might  be  interesting  to  ex- 
periment with  the  calcium  chloride  cool- 
ing medium  in  connection  with  a  refriger- 
ator made  like  this. 


a  low  temperature.     The  calcium  chloride 
brine  circulates  in  the  pipes  and  is  cooled 


by  a  mi.xture  of  chipped  ice  and  salt  pack- 
ed around  the  pipe  coil  in  the  ice  chest. 

It  is  one  of  the  more  scientific  arrange- 
ments for  the  economical  production  of 
cold  storage  that  works  especially  well 
where  conditions  are  all  favorable. 


SOUTHERN  COW  BARN— A207 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 

The  cow  barn  herewith  illustrated  is  i\i^-     All  rules  of  architectural  proportion  and 

signed  for  a  warm  climate  with  the  view  of     design,  as  far  as  books  are  concerned,  have 

obtaining  good  results  as  an  investment,     been  laid  aside.    The  barn  being  located  at 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


147 


a  place  where  good  returns  are  required     ond  floor,  or  hay  room,  is  of  wood  con- 
and  no  architectural  beauty  called  for,  it     struction  and  covered  by  a  flat  roof. 


is  a  success  because  it  meets  all  its  require-         There  are  two  rows  of  cow  stalls;  the 

ments.  cows  facing  each  other,  and  between  them 

The  walls  of  the  basement  or  stock  room     is  a  hay  rack  built  of  one  inch  wrought  iron 


^.t, 


are  built  of  cement  blocks  and  the  entire 
surface  being  of  cement  will  keep  the  room 
cool  in  warm  summer  weather.     The  sec- 


pipes  set  six  inches  apart,  the  bottom  of 
the  pipes  being  imbedded  in  the  concrete 
floor  and  the  top  of  the  pipes  run  into  a 


148 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


wood  rail.  This  feed  rack,  extending  about  trough  formed  into  the  cement  floor  for 
three  feet  above  the  hay  floor,  makes  it  feeding  other  foods  and  for  watering.  This 
convenient  for  filling  and  at  the  same  time     is  a  very  good  arrangement,  not  only  for 


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gives  it  additional  capacity  so  that  it  will  its  compactness,  but  as  all  the  hay  that  is 
hold  several  days'  feed.  At  the  foot  of  cacli  droppc(l  by  the  cows  falh  into  the  trough 
side  of  this  feed  rack  there  is  a  feeding     and  is  afterwards  picked  up  by  the  cow  ul 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


149 


place  of  being  tramped  on  and  wasted. 
The  cows  are  separated  by  iron  pipe  rail- 


outside  walls,  and  these  are  also  construct- 
ed of  wrought  iron  pipe,  so  that  there  is 


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ings  which  are  imbedded  in  the  cement 
floor  and  fastened  to  the  hay  rack. 

As  will  be  noticed  in  the  cut,  the  cows 
are  fastened  with  chains  which  are  fasten- 
ed to  a  ring  placed  around  a  vertical  pipe 
each  side  of  the  stall. 


The  stall  floors  have  a  gradual  slope  to 
a  shallow  gutter  at  the  rear  of  the  stalls 
and  this  gutter  has  a  gradual  slope  to  a 
drain  tile  to  carry  out  all  liquids  to  a  cis- 
tern under  the  compost  pits  at  the  end  of 
the  barn.  Calf  stalls  and  loose  stalls  for 
dry  stock  and  bull  are  arranged  about  the 


practically  no  wood  work  about  the  stalls 
or  floors  which  can  rot  or  get  mouldy. 
This  makes  an  ideal  barn  for  its  purpose 


ISO 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


and  can  be  constructed  at  a  reasonable 
price,  and  is  practical  for  southern  states 
where  hay  is  the  principal  feed.  For  feed- 
ing silage  this  would  not  be  so  practical, 
as  it  would  be  too  inconvenient  to  place 
the  silage  into  the  feed  trough,  unless  the 


cows  were  first  taken  out  of  their  stalls. 
Again  it  would  not  be  well  for  a  northern 
climate  where  the  barn  is  constantly 
guarded  against  cold  weather  and  a  per- 
fect system  of  ventilation  and  fresh  air  in- 
lets are  very  necessary. 


MODEL  DAIRY— A 1 80 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 
We  are  here  illustrating  a  dairy  build-     heat,  water,  light  and  power  for  the  vari- 
ing  which  is  very  complete  and  answers     ous  purposes  required  on  a  large  dairy  and 


/(-£  /V<7Z/Jf£. 


DAi'^y 


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tCE.    HOUJIL 


KArro/TAf 


lato/Mr  njtrfoiv^ ' 


T 


Cr^OU^JO    TLOOT^  /»X/*V/3^  £i4/HY 


all  the  requirements  for  a  country  dairy,  stock  farm.  The  building  consists  of  thr«.e 
It  has  waterworks,  power  and  electric  parts;  the  left  hand  wing  is  the  ice  storage 
light  plant  of  sunicient  capacity  to  supply     house  and  also  contains  two  cold  storage 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


151 


rooms  for  butter,  cream,  milk,  etc. ;  the 
central  part  is  the  dairy  containing  the 
churn  room,  bottling  room,  washing  room, 
etc.,  and  the  right  wing  is  the  power  and 
pumping  station. 

This  building  is  built  on  a  concrete 
foundation,  above  which  it  is  of  the  regu- 
lar balloon  frame  construction.  The  walls 
are  of  two-inch  by  six-inch  studding 
sheathed  on  the  outside  with  matched 
sheathing,  then  papered  and  covered  with 
drop  siding.  The  space  between  the  stud- 
ding of  the  dairy  and  wash  rooms  from 
the  floor  to  the  window  sills  is  filled  with 
concrete  and  then  cemented  on  the  inside 
forming  a  cement  wainscoting  as  well  as 


strengthening  the  building.  Above  this 
cement  work  the  side  walls  and  ceiling  are 
ceiled  with  beaded  yellow  pine  ceiling. 
The  roof  is  of  moss  green  stained  shingles 
and  has  large  ventilators,  which  makes  it 
hygienic  and  adds  to  the  appearance. 

The  ice  house  is  insulated  with  several 
thicknesses  of  hair  felt,  air  spaces  and 
matched  sheathing  and  insulating,  water- 
proof paper. 

The  power  house  has  a  basement  which 
contains  the  boilers,  which  are  sunk  below 
the  ground  level  in  order  to  admit  steam 
pipes  to  be  run  underground  to  the  other 
farm  buildings  for  heating  purposes.  The 
pumps  and  dynamo  are  run  by  an  engine. 


ANOTHER  MODEL  DAIRY— A176 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


A  dairy  building  is  located  east  of  the 
cow  barn  and  so  arranged  that  the  milk 
can  be  brought  from  the  east  door  of  the 
cow  barn  directly  to  the  receiving  vat  in 
the  dairy  building.  The  milk  cans  are  un- 
loaded from  the  truck  on  to  a  platform, 


in  order  to  maintain  a  uniform  tempera 
ture  in  the  building  and  to  prevent  the  ad- 
mittance of  any  impure  air.  From  the  re- 
ceiving vat  the  milk  flows  by  gravity 
through  the  various  machines  and  appara- 
tus without  having  to  be  handled  by  any 


from  which  the  milk  is  poured  into  the  re- 
ceiving vat  from  the  outside  of  the  build- 
ing, thus  avoiding  the  opening  and  closing 
of  outside  doors,  which  is  very  essential 


hands  until  it  is  sealed  in  bottles,  not  only 
for  economical,  but  more  especially  for 
sanitary  reasons. 

From  the  receiving  vat  the  milk  flows 


i5« 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


.'iC-"-..- 


:';."\  ^  -v.-  .V-'.'.?.  :*.v:-r----;f,.>-'* 


Tw^/f  /i^y  ^a^/^y 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


153 


into  the  separator  and  after  the  milk  has 
been  separated  from  the  cream  it  is  again 
mixed  together  and  then  flows  through 
the  cooler  and  into  the  bottling  machine, 
which  is  located  in  a  pit  in  the  center  of  the 
milk  room.  The  filled  and  sealed  bottles 
are  then  placed  into  wooden  delivery  boxes 
for  immediate  delivery  or  else  stored  in  the 
refrigerator  ready  for  use. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  purely  sanitary 
milk  much  depends  on  the  care  and  clean- 
liness of  the  various  receptacles,  therefore 
too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  on 
the  washing  and  sterilizing.  All  the  bot- 
tles are  thoroughly  washed  by  machines, 
which  can  do  the  work  very  thoroughly 
and  rapidly  by  revolving  brushes,  etc.,  and 


after  a  thorough  washing  they  are  set  into 
the  sterilizing  oven,  which  is  equipped 
with  steam  coils  and  steam  jets. 

The  butter  room  is  located  to  the  left 
of  the  milk  room  and  is  well  equipped  with 
the  most  up-to-date  churns  and  also  con- 
tains the  testing  machine  and  other  appa- 
ratus. The  refrigerator  is  divided  into 
compartments,  and  is  of  the  most  ap- 
proved construction. 

The  construction  of  this  building  is  of 
the  usual  balloon  type,  having  a  stone 
foundation  under  walls  of  2  by  4-inch 
studding,  which  are  sheathed  and  sided  on 
the  outside.  Between  these  is  placed  a 
double  thickness  of  heavy  building  paper. 


HOME   DAIRY— A206 


The  very  best  butter  is  made  on  farms 
where  the  women  thoroughly  understand 
the  business  and  have  the  proper  facilities. 
When  the  milk  from  good  healthy  cows  is 
run  through  a  cream  separator  as  soon  as 
possible  after  milking  and  the  cream 
cooled  to  the  right  temperature  and  kept 
in  clean,  pure  air  and  churned  when  it  is 
just  old  enough  and  not  too  old,  you  get 
the  very  nicest  butter  that  skill  and'  energy 
can  make.  Such  butter,  if  shipped  regu- 
larly to  consumers  in  large  cities,  will 
bring  a  bigger  price  than  the  best  cream- 
ery butter  made.  It  is  no  more  work  to 
make  butter  right  than  to  make  it  wrong;' 
in  fact  there  is  less  work  because  you  have| 
a  proper  system  and  that  always  helps. 

The  farm  dairy  may  be  very  simple  but 
is  should  be  by  itself.  You  cannot  make 
gilt-edged  butter  in  the  kitchen.  There 
are  too  many  odors  from  cooking  and 
sometimes  from  tobacco  smoke.  Cream  is 
very  touchy  when  it  comes  to  odors.  You 
can  insult  cream  with  a  bad  smell  quicker 
than  any  other  food  product  and  when  it 
is  once  contaminated  no  cleansing  process 
can  possibly  eliminate  the  trouble. 

The  dairy  may  open  ofif  from  the  kitchen 
but  you  must  keep  the  door  closed.  You 
will  need  some  means  of  heating  this  room 
in  winter  time,  but  during  the  spring,  fall 
and  summer  it  will  be  warm  enough  with- 


out, and  if  it  is  on  the  north  side  of  the 
building  it  will  be  cool  enough  most  of  the 
time  without  using  ice,  but  ice  is  cheap 
enough  to  have  and  use  when  you  need  it. 
This  dairy  is  intended  for  from  ten  to 
thirty  cows.  If  you  have  more  cows  you 
may  need  more  room,  but  that  will  depend 


SL 


to  some  exten  on  how  often  you  ship  the 
butter. 

The  intention  is  to  pack  the  butter  in 
one  pound  prints  or  five  pound  crocks 
and  to  ship  in  neat  little  crates  holding 
two  or  three  crocks  each  or  in  boxes  hold- 
ing ten  or  twenty  prints.  If  you  have  the 
proper  storage  and  the  butter  is  made  to 
keep  you  can  hold  it  in  your  store  room 
until  you  get  ready  to  ship  it. 


Department  of 

General  Farm  Barns 


A 


AN  OHIO  BARN— A146 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10,00 

STYLE  of  barn  that  is  very  much  used     threshing  machine  is  set  first  on  one  side 
in  Ohio  is  shown  in  plan  (A146).    A     and  then  on  the  other  for  convenience  in 


£:/vo  eicK^rjo/if  or  e/r/vk  s^f/f^ 


peculiarity  of  this  style  of  barn  is  what  is  getting  the  grain  to  the  macliine.  The 
commonly  termed  a  double  threshing  bridge  from  the  bank  to  the  ground  floor 
floor.     In    some    of    the    larger  ones  the     must    be    stronger    than    common    barn 


IS4 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


155 


bridges  because  it  spans  the  space  between 
the  barn  and  bank  and  it  leaves  a  runway 
for  cattle  along  the  bank  side  of  the  build- 
ing. In  this  plan  the  cows  have  no  stalls 
but  are  stabled  in  an  enclosed  shed  with  a 
feeding  rack  the  whole  length  of  the  side 
so  arranged  that  it  may  be  filled  from  the 
mow  above.  Several  removable  racks  for 
feeding  grain  may  be  placed  anywhere  in 
this  shed  and  a  water  trough  with  an  ever- 
lasting supply  of  good  pure  water  will 
hardly  freeze  in  here. 

There  are  many  points  of  convenience 


with  the  barn  proper.  The  entrance  to 
the  barn  being  overhead  the  whole  ground 
space  around  the  barn  is  left  free  to  han- 
dle stock.  Horses,  cows,  sheep  and  hogs 
may  all  have  different  quarters  and  be  kept 
separate  very  much  to  the  advantage  of 
the  stock  and  at  a  great  saving  in  time. 
The  dampness  which  is  a  bad  feature  of 
most  bank  barns  is  obviated  in  this  plan 
because  there  is  a  circulation  of  air  all 
around. 

One  of  these  barns  was  built  on  a  hilly 
farm  in  southern  Ohio  on  a  site  some  dis- 


S/0£  CLCK/fT/O/V  or  S/l/V/(  S^/fA/ 


about  a  barn  built  after  this  plan,  one  of 
which  is  the  facility  of  getting  all  around 
it.  Gates,  fences  and  retaining  walls  for 
the  bank  offer  opportunities  for  stock  pens 
in  almost  every  corner  without  interfering 


tance  from  the  house  and  about  twenty 
feet  higher,  in  fact  the  house  was  on  one 
hill  and  the  barn  on  another  with  a  small 
ravine  separating  them.  Two  round  wood- 
en water  tanks  were  placed  near  the  top 


156 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


of  the  barn  and  these  tanks  were  kept  sup- 
plied by  means  of  a  hydraulic  ram  work- 
ing from  a  running  spring  of  pure  clear 
water  back  among  the  hills. 

To  facilitate  cleaning  the  tanks  one  at 
a  time,  they  were  connected  at  the  bottom 
with  a  short  pipe.  In  this  pipe  were  two 
globe  valves  and  between  the  valves  was 
the  outlet  pipe  to  the  house  and  to  the 
stock  watering  troughs. 

The  pipe  that  brought  the  supply  from 
the  spring  entered  the  tops  of  both  tanks 
in  a  similar  way.  Two  valves  in  the  cross 
pipe  permitted  water  to  flow  into  either 
tank  or  both  tanks  as  desired. 

This  arrangement  of  feed  and  outlet 


the  other  tank  could  be  continued  in  use. 
In  i)ractice  it  was  found  desirable  to  clean 
both  tanks  twice  each  year  because  if  left 
longer  they  were  inclined  to  become  slimy. 

About  seventy-five  head  of  cattle  and 
horses  were  kept  on  the  farm  besides  oth- 
er stock  and  their  thrift  was  due  in  great 
measure  to  the  unlimited  supply  of  good 
water  within  easy  reach  at  all  times  where 
they  could  drink  out  of  cement  troughs 
and  cast  iron  buckets  in  convenient  places 
about  the  stable  and  nearby  pasture  lots. 

Besides  supplying  the  stock  an  inch  pipe 
was  carried  under  the  ground  to  the  house, 
which  was  in  this  way  supplied  with  hot 
and  cold  running  water  in  the  kitchen  sink 


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pipes  made  provision  for  emptying  and  and  bath  room.  There  was  also  an  outside 
cleaning  either  tank  at  any  time  without  hose  tap  for  sjirinkling  the  lawn  and  wat- 
interfcring  with  the  water  supply  because     ering  the  flower  beds.  Another  hose  cock 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


1.57 


in  the  carriage  house  supplied  a  hose  brush     and  only  left  to  get  married  and  work  on 
for  washing  buggies.  a  farm  of  his  own.     Farm  hands  are  quick 

It  might  be  noted  that  help  stayed  along     to     appreciate     modern     improvements 


OP£M/MC     /M   fLOOff 


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on  the  farm  year  after  year.     One  man     Farmers  who  plan  right  can  keep  help  and 
grew  up  on  the  place  from  a  chore-boy     make  money  from  their  work. 

LARGE  BANK  BARN— A166 


Cost  of  Blue 
A  bank  barn  is  very  desirable  where  a 
suitable  location  can  be  found  but  some 
bank  barns  are  very  inconvenient  and  oth- 
ers are  damp  and  musty  because  the  barn 
is  not  built  right.  It  is  not  absolutely  nec- 
essary to  build  a  bank  barn  just  because 
there  is  a  hill  on  the  farm.  It  is  much  bet- 
ter to  pick  out  a  plan  which  is  suitable  for 
the  location  than  to  blindly  follow  the  lead 
of  some  other  farmer.  A  barn  that  is  all 
right  on  one  farm  may  be  all  wrong  on  the 
next  farm,  so  much  depends  on  the  use 


Prints,  $15.00 
made  of  it,  the  kind  of  farming  and  the 
lay  of  the  land. 

This  bank  barn  is  30  feet  wide  by  70 
feet  long  with  a  basement  full  size.  The 
walls  of  the  basement  are  of  stone  and  the 
upper  structure  is  heavy  frame  work 
braced  in  such  a  way  that  a  horse  fork 
could  be  used  in  the  peak  with  a  track 
clear  from  obstruction  extending  from 
one  gable  to  the  other. 

There  is  no  objection  to  making  this 
wall  of  cement    or    concrete    if    stone    is 


158 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


scarce  or  if  for  any  other  reason  a  farmer 
prefers  cement  construction.  This  barn 
is  placed  sideways  to  the  bank  and  has 
two  bridges  leading  to  what  is  commonly 
termed  a  double  threshing  floor  on  a  level 
with  the  ground  on  the  upper  side.  There 
are  two  doors  on  the  opposite  or  south  side 
of  the  barn  but  they  are  designed  merely 
as  openings  for  light  and  air  as  occasion 
requires  and  to  run  the  carriers  out  when 
threshing.  It  is  intended  to  build  the  straw 


and  to  support  them  w-ith  good  solid  posts 
with  good  stone  foundation  or  thoroughly 
well  constructed  cement  footings  solid 
enough  to  prevent  settling.  A  good  many 
such  barns  give  considerable  trouble  in 
this  respect  but  not  necessarily  so  because 
it  is  easy  to  make  them  right  in  the  first 
place. 

In  all  stock  barns,  but  especially  where 
stock  is  kept  in  the  basement,  ventilation 
is  of  prime  importance.     This  barn  has 


stack  in  the  yard  on  this  lower  side  of  the 
barn. 

The  basement  is  partitioned  off  into  sta- 
bles for  six  horses  and  twenty  head  of  cat- 
tle as  shown  in  the  basement  plan. 

In  building  a  barn  like  this  it  is  neces- 
sary to  use  heavy  timbers  over  the  stable 


tw'O    ventilators    extending    through    the 
roof  at  the  peak. 

For  convenience  in  feeding  there  are 
two  chutes  running  down  from  the  hay 
mow  to  the  feed  alleys  on  the  stable  floor. 
The  double  threshing  floor  leaves  consid- 
erable  room   for  storage  of  farm   imple- 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


159 


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PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


163 


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164 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


ments  which  is  very  important  on  most 
farms.  Where  the  land  slants  like  this 
the  barn  yard  usually  is  dry  but  probably 
a  little  tile  draining  helps  every  yard.  We 


seldom  see  a  barn  yard  dry  enough  in  the 
fall  and  spring.  It  is  well  to  consider  all 
these  side  issues  when  selecting  the  site 
to  build  on. 


BALLOON  ROOFED  BARN— A 143 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $20.00 


A  good  sized  barn  with  a  basement  sta- 
ble, a  good  threshing  floor  and  a  large  stor- 
age for  fodder  is  shown  in  plan  (A143). 
The  wall  may  be  made  of  stone  or  cement 
according  to  circumstances.  Eight  feet 
head  room  is  enough  for  the  cow  stable 
but  usually  nine  feet  is  better  for  a  horse 
stable.  This  barn  should  front  the  south 
and  the  root  house  should  be,  if  possible, 
in  a  bank  on  the  north  side  and  the  feed 
alley  so  arranged  that  a  feed  car  may  be 
run  into  the  root  house  on  a  level. 

It  probably  would  be  better  to  construct 


this  case  there  is  a  good  deal  of  outside 
wall  clear  of  the  bank  and  the  windows 
may  be  made  large. 

Balloon  roofs  are  becoming  quite  pop- 
ular in  barn  construction,  but  some  of  the 
first  ones  were  not  made  strong  enough 
and  heavy  winds  wrecked  them.  This 
roof  however  is  braced  by  the  gables  from 
every  direction  which  makes  the  structure 
a  strong  one. 

The  threshing  floor  is  open  in  the  center 
to  the  roof  but  it  may  be  floored  over  at 
the  ends  if  so  desired.  The  intention  is  to 


CLcr^r/OA/ 


a  board  partition  between  the  horse  stable 
and  the  cow  stable,  but  the  calf  and  bull 
pens  would  be  better  without  a  partition 
because  the  air  will  circulate  better  and 
there  will  be  more  light  in  the  cow  stable. 
One  objection  to  the  basement  stable  is 
the  difliculty  of  lighting  it  properly.  A 
good  deal  dci)cnds  on  the  exposure.     In 


work  the  horse  fork  from  this  floor;  to 
drive  in  with  loads  from  the  bank  at  the 
north  and  back  out. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  leave  sufficient  open- 
ing to  run  the  straw  carrier  or  stacker  up 
to  the  mows  above.  On  most  farms  it 
would  be  desirable  to  have  a  stack  in  the 
yard  but  it  is  just  as  well  to  put  some  of 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


165 


the  straw  back  in  the  barn.  A  balloon 
roof  works  splendidly  for  this  purpose. 
The  stacker  may  be  turned  to  blow  the 
straw  to  the  furtherest  end  of  any  gable. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  pay  careful  attention 


It  will  be  noticed  that  two  hay  chutes 
are  provided  to  carry  the  hay  down  to  the 
feed  alleys.  Hay  chutes  are  a  great  conven- 
ience but  they  are  draughty  things  unless 
doors  are  provided.  In  putting  in  the  up- 


rioo/f  /'//'/V  orc/frrir  a/f/fA/ 


to  the  ventilation  of  any  stable.  The  air 
in  a  basement  stable  is  seldom  as  good  as 
it  should  be.  There  are  two  air  shafts  in 
this  plan  with  openings  near  the  floor. 


per  floor  timbers  and  joists  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  make  them  continuous  by  building 
them  up  with  two  inch  plank  so  as  to  tie 
the  building  together  in  both  directions. 


i66 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


Remember  in  building  this  barn  you  have  ary  than  the  one  shown  in  the  plan.  In  that 
no  upper  ties  and  you  must  support  the  case  it  may  be  extended  to  cover  the  whole 
roof  from  the  frame  below,  but  this  is  eas-     floor  in  the  granary  wing,  which  should 


•SECOND    /"LOO/?   /^/f/V 


ily  done  because  of  the  shape  of  the  build-     make  the  granary  about   twenty-two  by 
ing.  thirty  feet  and  the  hay  shoot  would  pass 

Some  farmers  may  need  a  larger  gran-     down  through  it  just  the  same. 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


167 


CANADIAN  BARN— A183 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $250.00 


This  large  stock  and  dairy  barn  was  de- 
signed for  a  large  Canadian  farm  and  has 
many  good  features  worth  noting,  both 
from  the  builder's  and  the  dairyman's 
point  of  view. 

The  shape  of  the  building  was  developed 
with  the  view  of  giving  the  best  shelter 
to  the  stock.  From  the  points  of  the  com- 
pass, as  shown  on  the  floor  plan,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  wings  of  the  cow  barn 
and  the  young  stock  barn  are  so  situated 
as  to  keep  the  north  wind  off  the  stock 
when  it  is  let  out  for  exercise  during  the 
winter  months,  and  at  the  same  time  giv- 
ing them  all  the  sunshine.  The  building 
is  also  arranged  to  be  convenient  from  the 
paddocks,  pastures,  etc.,  allowing  the 
stock  to  approach  their  respective  stalls 
without  having  to  be  driven  across  unnec- 
essary driveways  or  through  a  series  of 
gates. 

The  building  is  built  of  wood,  on  a  foun- 
dation of  concrete,  which  is  put  in  place 
by  excavating  the  trenches  the  exact  width 


with  drop  siding  over  a  layer  of  thick  tar 
paper.  After  the  concrete  between  the 
studding  has  become  hard  metal  lath  are 
put  in  place  on  the  interior  face  of  stud- 
ding and  over  the  concrete,  which  is  then 
plastered  with  cement  mortar,  making  a 
cement  wainscoting  around  the  walls, 
which  makes  a  perfectly  sanitary  barn. 
The  concrete  filled  walls  help  greatly  to 
keep  the  barn  warm  in  winter  and  cool  in 
summer,  as  well  as  to  stiffen  the  structure 
against  heavy  winds. 

The  granary  is  located  at  the  center  of 
the  north  side  and  contains  eight  large 
hopper  bottom  bins  for  the  storage  of 
grain  and  feed.  The  bottom  of  each  bin 
is  connected  with  a  spout  leading  to  an 
elevator  boot  in  the  basement,  which  ele- 
vates the  grain  to  a  revolving  head  so  that 
the  grain  can  readily  be  transferred  from 
one  bin  to  another  or  onto  a  truck  or  wag- 
ons. Some  of  the  bins  also  have  spouts 
wagon-bed  height  above  the  floor  for  feed- 
ing purposes.    The  main  driveway  of  the 


cH/cf<e^  uot/^a 


ffon^tz.  ;aa.i?-v 


and  depth  of  the  wall  and  then  the  con- 
crete is  dumped  and  tamped  into  the 
trench,  thus  avoiding  the  work  and  ex- 
pense of  planking  for  concrete  forms  be- 
low grade.  Above  grade  the  concrete  is 
tamped  between  planks  well  fastened  in 
place  in  the  usual  manner.  The  concrete 
wall  extends  up  to  the  floor  level  where 
the  wood  construction  begins.  The  space 
between  the  studding  from  the  floor  up  to 
the  window  sill  level  is  also  filled  with 
concrete  after  the  walls  have  been  sided 


barn  goes  through  this  granary  and  con- 
tains a  combination  dumping  scales  with 
a  hopper  under  the  floor  spouted  to  the 
elevator  boot  for  loading  grain  into  the 
bins. 

This  granary  being  located  near  the  cen- 
ter of  the  barn  is  very  convenient  for  feed- 
ing the  stock  and  adds  to  the  exterior  ap- 
pearance of  the  building.  The  basement  of 
the  granary  is  used  for  the  storage  of  roots 
for  the  stock  and  can  be  equipped  with  a 
kettle  for  boiling  and  mixing  foods,  etc. 


j68 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


169 


170 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


The  cow  barn  contains  57  cow  stalls  and 
arranged  with  a  feed  alley  running 
through  the  entire  length  with  the  man- 
gers on  either  side,  so  the  cattle  can  be 
conveniently  fed  from  a  truck  or  a  trolley 
track  system  suspended  from  the  ceiling. 
The  cows  stand  facing  each  other  and  the 
mangers  are  continuous,  constructed  out 
of  concrete  whi  :h  forms  part  of  the  cement 
floor.  The  stall  floors  are  of  concrete  cov- 
ered with  plank,  which  can  be  taken  up 
and  cleaned  or  renewed  when  desired. 
The  manure  gutters  have  sufficient  fall  to 
drain  all  liquids  to  one  outlet  in  the  center 
which  is  connected  with  a  catch-basin,  and 
also  contains  gate  valves  so  arranged  that 
while  scrubbing  the  water  can  be  switched 
into  a  sewer.  The  passages  back  of  the 
cows  are  of  good  width  for  milking  and 
bedding  the  stock  and  trucking  ont  ma- 
nure to  platforms  built  at  the  end  of  each 
passage  outside  of  the  building.  The  ven- 
tilation is  well  taken  care  of  by  ducts  in 
the  walls  which  carry  the  air  to  the  venti- 
lators on  the  roof. 

The  young  stock  barn  is  located  to  the 
west  of  the  cow  barn  and  contains  six  box 
stalls  for  bulls  and  calves.  These  stalls 
are  constructed  from  heavy  wrought  iron 
gas  pipe,  having  three-inch  pipes  for  cor- 
ner posts  and  for  top  or  header  rail,  and 
l^^-inch  pipe  spaced  6  inches  apart  for  the 
stall  partitions;  these  pipes  are  set  upright 
with  the  bottom  ends  well  bedded  in  the 
concrete  floor  and  the  upper  ends  screwed 
into  3-inch  header.  The  gates  are  also  of 
pipe  construction  and  have  self-closing 
locks  and  hinges. 

There  are  28  single  stalls  with  swinging 
stanchions  for  calves,  one-year-olds,  and 
dry  stock  similar  in  arrangement  to  the 
stalls  of  the  milk  cows  only  not  so  wide, 
as  no  milking  room  is  necessary. 

The  wing  also  contains  a  hospital  stall 
which  is  isolated  from  all  others  by  solid 
walls  and  has  all  side  walls,  floor  and  ceil- 
ing finished  with  cement  which  is  imper- 
vious to  moisture  and  can  be  readily  dis- 
infected. Opposite  the  hospital  stall  is  a 
watchman's  room  for  a  man  who  can  at- 
tend any  sick  stock  during  the  night. 


The  silos  are  centrally  located  for  con- 
venience in  feeding  and  filling,  as  the  sil- 
age cutter  can  be  located  in  the  central 
feeding  room  and  thus  be  operated  in  all 
kinds  of  weather  during  the  ensilage  sea- 
son. The  silos  are  constructed  of  stud- 
ding spaced  12  inches  on  centers,  sheathed 
on  the  inside  with  two  thicknesses  of  i'/2- 
inch  by  6  inch  sheathing  bent  around  hori- 
zontal and  then  veneered  on  the  inside 
with  hard,  vitreous  paving  brick  laid  in 
cement  mortar,  each  brick  being  tightly 
pressed  against  the  sheathing  so  that  the 
silage  pressure  cannot  force  it  out  of  place. 
The  exterior  of  each  silo  is  finished  to 
match  the  balance  of  the  building.  The 
silos  have  a  concrete  foundation  which  is 
flush  on  the  inside  with  the  face  of  brick 
lining,  and  being  excavated  down  to  the 
footing  increases  its  capacity  by  about  50 
tons.  The  floors  are  of  concrete,  dished 
to  the  center,  and  connected  with  a  deep 
seal  trap  and  drain. 

South  of  the  silos  is  the  horse  barn, 
which  contains  17  single  stalls  on  one  side 
and  9  single  and  4  box  stalls  on  the  other 
side,  giving  it  a  capacity  of  thirty  horses. 
Each  stall  has  an  outside  window  for  light 
and  ventilation.  These  windows  are 
about  seven  feet  from  the  floor  to  avoid 
draft  on  the  animals  and  protected  by  a 
wire  mesh  guard.  The  stall  partitions 
are  of  wood  to  a  height  of  5  feet  6  inches, 
giving  a  good  circulation  of  air  and  light. 
The  stall  floors  are  of  double  thickness  of 
1^4  inch  by  6  inch  flooring  with  several 
thicknesses  of  roofing  felt  laid  in  hot 
tar  between.  All  stall  floors  arc  slightly 
sloped  down  towards  the  driveway  and 
have  cast  iron  gutters  with  perforated  cast 
iron  covers  and  connected  with  catch- 
basin  and  sewer. 

East  of  the  horse  barn  is  the  chicken 
house,  having  a  capacity  of  350  fowls,  di- 
vided into  seven  compartments  of  50  each, 
so  arranged  that  the  chickens  get  the 
south  sun  and  protected  from  the  cold 
north  winds. 

East  of  the  horse  barn  is  tlu-  shed  for 
wagons  and  farming  inii)lements  with  a 
door  into  the  horse  stable,  so  the  team  can 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


171 


be  taken  directly  from  the  stable  into  the 
shed  and  hitched  up  without  having  to  go 
through  a  barn  yard. 

There    are    many    other    conveniences 
about  this  building,  but  we  must  refrain 


in  this  article  for  lack  of  space.  Suffice  it, 
therefore,  to  conclude  in  stating  that  the 
building  is  so  constructed  that  any  depart- 
ment of  the  same  can  at  any  future  time 
be  extended  or  added  to. 


AN  OCTAGON  BARN— Ai 50 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 
This  is  a  cement  silo  with  a  barn  built 
around  it.  The  arrangement  is  a  good  one 
for  feeding  young  cattle  to  make  them 
grow,  rather  than  to  fatten  steers  for  the 
market.  The  silo  is  sixteen  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  thirty-two  feet  high  with  a  twelve 
inch  cement  wall  and  a  pit  that  reaches 
three  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground. 


ery  direction.  Every  side  is  both  a  brace 
and  a  tie  for  the  next  side.  To  prevent 
any  possible  pulling  away  from  the  silo, 
rods  connect  all  the  floor  joists  and  all  the 
rafters.  This  makes  a  circle  of  three  quar- 
ter inch  iron  at  the  floor  and  again  at  the 
roof,  but  if  the  different  sides  of  the  build- 
ing are  well  tied  together  there  will  be  no 


Three  feet  is  deep  enough  to  give  a  good 
solid  foundation  and  it  is  deep  enough 
when  you  come  to  pitch  the  last  silage  out 
of  the  bottom. 

The  frame-work  of  the  barn  is  very 
light.  The  silo  is  used  to  support  the  mid- 
dle and  the  barn  really  is  braced  from  ev- 


getting  away  even  if  the  iron  rods  are  not 
used. 

The  octagon  construction  has  been 
worked  out  in  this  plan  in  preference  to  a 
round  barn  because  the  construction  is 
cheaper.  The  sills  and  other  timbers  are 
straight.  The  joists  usually  are  cut  square, 


173 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


at  least  there  are  not  very  many  bevels  and 
when  a  joist  is  beveled  it  is  only  on  one 
end  and  the  other  end  is  cut  square.     It  is 
ihe  same  with  the  rafters. 
There  is  considerable  room  for  straw 


The  mangers  being  next  to  the  feed  il- 
ley  makes  feeding  as  easy  and  convenient 
as  it  is  possible  to  have  it.  Perhaps  no 
other  barn  construction  can  offer  such  ad- 
vantages at  feeding  time.     The  mangers 


FLOOR     PLflA/ 


and  hay  around  the  silo  and  it  is  easy  to 
make  places  next  to  the  silo  for  putting 
both  hay  and  straw  down  into  the  feed 
alley. 


hold  hay,  corn  stalks  or  other  roughage 
and  the  bottoms  are  tight  for  feeding  corn 
or  ensilage.  The  feed  room  in  front  of  the 
silo  doors  is  boarded  to  the  ceiling  so  that 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


173 


ensilage  enough  for  a  full  feed  may  be 
piled  up  out  of  the  way  of  the  ensilage 
cart.  A  packing  box  with  large  castors 
may  be  used  for  a  silage  cart  or  it  may  be 
a  well  built  cart  with  heavy  iron  wheels 
and  with  hinged  sides  to  drop  over  to  the 
manger. 

There  are  four  entrances  for  conveni- 
ence in  getting  out  the  manure  and  most 
of  them  will  be  used  at  times  for  letting 
stock  in  or  out,  especially  if  the  barn  is 
divided  up  in  compartments  for  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  stock.    Each  post  has  a  good 


cement  footing  as  shown  in  the  plan  and 
the  elevation  shows  the  way  the  timbers 
run. 

There  is  no  floor  in  the  bottom  except 
the  ground  as  it  is  intended  to  let  the 
straw  and  manure  accumulate,  but  there 
is  a  good  feed  room  floor  as  this  is  where 
the  work  is  done  three  or  four  times  a  day. 
A  silo  surrounded  like  this  must  be  filled 
with  a  carrier.  A  blast  stack  will  not  work 
well  on  an  incline  and  it  is  not  convenient 
to  place  the  cutter  close  to  the  silo,  but  a 
good  carrier  works  all  right. 


EIGHTY  ACRE  FARM  BARN— A2 11 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


A  general  purpose  barn  thirty-two  by 
sixty  feet  with  storage  room  overhead  may 
be  built  on  this  plan.  The  idea  is  to  pro- 
vide a  barn  that  is  suitable  for  a  farm,  say 
of  eighty  acres,  where  six  or  eight  horses 
are  kept  for  work  and  for  breeding  pur- 
poses, and  where  there  is  a  variety  of  eat- 


ing out.  There  is  a  manger  between  the 
stanchions  and  the  outside  of  the  barn 
with  a  rack  to  hold  hay  and  there  is  a  long 
narrow  opening  above  this  rack  into  the 
mow  the  whole  length  of  the  rack  so  that 
hay  may  be  put  down  from  overhead  and 
distributed  as  it  is  thrown  down,  which 


tie,  some  milch  cows  and  some  growing  saves  once  or  twice  handling  when  com- 

calves  and  young  stock.  pared  with  feeding  arrangements  in  some 

The  cow  part  is  partitioned  off  from  the  other  stables. 

other  part  of  the  barn  with  stanchions  fac-  A  manure  carrier  runs  on  a  track  behind 


J  74 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


the  cows  and  the  same  track  is  extended  to 
run  behind  the  horses  with  a  switch  to 
throw  it  from  one  track  to  the  other  as 
needed.  Carrying  the  manure  all  out  at 
one  door  leaves  the  outside  of  the  barn 
clean  on  three  sides  which  adds  very  much 
to  the  appearance. 

The  main  entrance  is  into  an  alley  twelve 
feet  wide  which  gives  storage  room  for 
wagons,  buggies,  etc.,  and  at  the  back  end 
there  are  watering  arrangements  and  a  de- 
pression in  the  cement  floor  with  a  hole  in 
it  to  carry  ofif  the  water.  In  this  depres- 
sion buggies  and  other  rigs  are  washed 
and  for  this  purpose  it  is  a  good  plan  to 


while  other  horses  are  so  quarrelsome  that 
they  must  have  separate  stalls. 

The  feedway  in  front  of  the  horses  is 
narrow  because  it  is  not  intended  to  store 
any  feed  on  this  floor,  except  in  the  corn- 
crib.  There  is  a  chute  from  the  oat  bin 
above  with  just  a  small  box  at  the  bottom 
to  dip  from.  There  is  a  lid  to  this  box 
which  shuts  down  in  such  a  way  that  a 
horse  could  not  lift  it  even  if  it  should  get 
loose  and  crowd  into  this  narrow  feedway. 

The  corn-crib  portion  is  boarded  tight 
on  the  inside,  but  the  two  outer  sides  are 
slatted.  There  are  small  doors  outside 
near  the  top  of  the  crib  to  shovel  the  corn 
through  and  there  is  no  inside  door  open- 


7=^007^        7=U^^A\/ 


have  either  a  force  pump  or  a  tank  supply 
of  water  under  pressure. 

There  is  a  feed  door  in  the  side  of  each 
box  stall  which  hinges  at  the  top  and  may 
be  lifted  to  put  grain  into  the  manger 
boxes.  Hay,  however,  is  poked  down  from 
overhead  through  the  hay  chute.  There 
are  four  double  stalls  and  four  single  stalls 
which  is  a  very  good  arrangement  because 
some  pairs  of  horses  like  to  stand  together 


ing  into  the  crib  except  from  the  feedway 
in  front  of  the  horses. 

Hay  is  put  in  from  the  front  of  the  barn 
by  means  of  a  hay  fork  and  oats  are  lifted 
to  the  second  floor  by  a  sling  drawn  up 
with  a  horse,  one,  two  or  three  sacks  at  a 
time. 

This  arrangement  stands  all  the  stock 
with  their  heads  toward  the  walls,  a  differ- 
ent arrangement  from  most  barns.   When 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


175 


the  feed  is  put  down  from  overhead  there 
really  is  very  little  objection  to  an  arrange- 
ment of  this  kind  in  a  small  barn  and  there 
is  an  advantage  so  far  as  the  horses  are 
concerned  in  that  they  may  be  unhitched 
from  the  wagon,  go  at  once  to  the  water- 


ing trough  and  drink,  then  find  their  own 
stalls  without  assistance  from  anybody. 

A  long  narrow  harness  closet  with  two 
doors  makes  a  good  place  to  hang  harness 
so  that  there  is  no  excuse  for  having  it 
scattered  around  on  pegs  in  the  way. 


HAY  AND  GRAIN  BARN— Ai  67 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 


A  long  barn  designed  to  hold  a  good 
deal  of  hay  and  grain  is  shown  in  this  illus- 
tration. It  is  a  timber  frame  covered  with 
eight  inch  drop  siding. 

The  track  for  the  hay  fork  is  suspended 
from  the  peak  by  seven-eighth  inch  iron 


it  convenient  to  fill  the  barn  from  either 
end  or  from  both  ends  as  occasion  re- 
quires. There  is  a  driveway  crosswise 
through  the  barn  at  the  center.  This  drive- 
way is  floored  with  a  two  inch  plank  floor, 
but  it  is  not  necessary  to  floor  the  other 


SIDE  ELEVATION 


LONGITUDINAL  SECTION 


rods  and  the  track  extends  the  whole 
length  of  the  building  and  projects  several 
feet  at  each  end.  This  arrangement  makes 


part  of  the  building  except  with  round 
poles  to  keep  the  hay  and  grain  sheaves 
off  the  ground.  Such  a  barn  is  intended 


X76 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


more  for  storage  on  large  farms  where 
considerable  grain  is  harvested  and  hay 
cut  either  to  feed  or  for  sale. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  have  such  a  barn 
near    the    other   farm    buildings.      Many 


don't   require  quite  such  frequent  atten- 
tion as  the  other  animals. 

The  cross  center  floor  is  intended  for 
threshing,  but  there  is  no  provision  for 
storing  threshed  grain.  It  is  supposed  that 


m 


FLOOR  PLAN 


farmers  prefer  to  have  it  convenient  to  there  is  a  granary  near  the  house  and  oth- 
the  fields  because  it  is  never  used  for  er  buildings  and  it  is  better  to  haul  the 
housing  stock  unless  it  be  sheep  and  they     grain  from  the  machine. 

PRETENTIOUS  STOCK  BARN— A 179 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $35.00 


This  pretentious  stock  barn  is  very  com- 
plete and  of  an  elastic  pattern,  so  designed 
that  its  capacity  can  be  increased  by  build- 
ing on  to  the  gable  ends  and  extending 
them  out  any  distance  that  may  be  re- 
quired without  affecting  the  general  ar- 
rangement or  exterior  architectural  pro- 
portions in  the  least.    The  two  wings  to 


sort  of  court  around  the  silo,  admitting 
the  sun,  but  obstructing  the  severe  storms 
and  giving  shelter  to  the  stock.  The  silo 
is  well  situated  with  reference  to  feeding, 
being  in  the  middle  of  the  cow  barn.  The 
cows  stand  back  to  back,  which  is  of  great 
advantage  in  cleaning  out  the  gutters,  as 
all  the  dirt  can  be  handled  from  the  center 


~^OUTH    CLCVATIOr^J     OF  ^TOCK     SAW/V 


the  right  and  left  of  the  silo  contain  the  driveway  and  carried  to  the  manure  pits 
young  stock  and  horses  respectively  and  to  the  right.  To  the  left  hand  or  west  end 
fi.cc  the  south.    These  two  wings  form  a     of  the  cow  barn  is  a  large  room  for  imple- 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


177 


ments,  wagons,  harness  cases  and  stair- 
ways to  upper  floor  which  contains  grain 
Hins,  storage  rooms  for  light  machines 
vehicles,  etc.,  and  sufficient  hay  and  feed 
room  for  all  stock. 

This  building  has  a  concrete  foundation 
with  the  concrete  walls  extending  about 
2  feet  above  the  cement  floor  level  in  the 
stock  rooms.  This  prevents  any  moisture 
from  getting  to  the  framework  and  also 
makes  a  very  sanitary  and  durable  build- 


braced  roof  which  allows  the  free  use  01  a 
trolley  hay  fork  the  full  length  of  the 
building. 

The  roof  is  of  green  stained  shingles, 
of  Dutch  colonial  architecture,  and  not 
only  of  a  very  appropriate  design,  but  its 
shape  adds  greatly  to  the  storage  capacity 
of  hay,  grain,  etc. 

There  is  an  embankment  driveway  on 
the  north  side  which  admits  hay  wagons 
into  the  upper  floor  for  the  unloading  of 


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ing.  The  frame  walls  are  constructed  of 
two  by  six  studding  covered  with  tar  paper 
and  drop  siding  on  the  outside  and  tar 
paper  and  matched  sheathing  on  the  in- 
side. 

The  lower  story  has  two  rows  of  posts 
which  support  the  upper  floor  and  also 
serve  to  hold  the  stanchions  and  stall  par- 
titions. The  upper  story  is  of  a  single  span, 


BARN  NEAR  ST.  FRANCISVILLE,   ILL.— A188 


The  accompanying  is  a  medium  large, 
plain  and  very  serviceable  barn  on  an 
eighty  acre  farm  built  at  very  low  cost,  the 
timber  being  furnished  and  most  of  the 
work  being  done  by  the  farmer  himself 
who  owns  a  small  tract  of  timber  from 
which  the  logs  were  cut,  furnishing  all  the 
lumber  for  the  frame  and  siding. 

The  barn  is  of  red  oak  lumber  undressed 
and  unpainted.  The  frame  is  what  is 
known  here  as  the  "spiked"  frame,  three 


hay,  grain,  etc.  The  silo  is  of  frame  con- 
struction lined  on  the  inside  with  paving 
brick,  making  it  absolutely  air  tight  and 
almost  frost  proof.  There  is  a  trolley 
track  feed  carrier  hung  to  the  ceiling  of 
the  lower  story,  which  simplifies  the  feed- 
ing. The  building,  as  the  cut  shows  it, 
will  accommodate  100  head  of  cattle  and 
nine  horses. 


two  by  eight  inch  plank  being  spiked  to- 
gether, making  finished  timber  six  by 
eight  inches.  The  barn  is  sixty  by  forty- 
eight  feet  with  twelve  foot  driveway 
lengthwise  through  the  center  of  main 
building  and  an  inclosed  twelve  foot  shed 
on  the  south  stabling  twelve  dairy  cows. 
There  is  a  twelve  foot  open  shed  the  entire 
width  of  the  west  end.  It  is  twenty  feet  to 
the  eaves  of  the  main  part,  fourteen  feet 
to  the  eaves  of  south  cow  shed  and  thirty- 


178 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


five  feet  to  the  comb.  The  mow  above  cov-     the  walls,  and  having  capacity  for  sixteen 

ers  the  entire  floor,  sixty  by  forty-eight     horses. 

feet,  and  will  hold  eighty  tons  of  hay.  Hay         The  barn  is  on  a  foundation  of  natural 


is  taken  into  the  mow  from  outside  east 
end  from  large  door  just  under  comb,  and 


stone   pillars   with   earth   floor,   and   the 
building  is  constructed  to  fit  the  hill,  which 


it  has  modern  equipment  of  track  and  hay- 
fork. 

Horse  stalls  are  arranged  on  either  side 
of  the  center  driveway,  the  horses  facing 


CRO.S>£>       JSjECTION 

slopes  to  the  west,  east  posts  being  shorter 
and  west  posts  being  longer.  There  is  a 
small  corn-crib  in  the  northwest  corner, 
and  two  box  stalls  at  east  end. 


WABASH  COUNTY,  ILL.,  BARN— A185 

A  medium  large  barn  on  the  160-acrc  the  community.  It  is  a  plain  structure 
farm  of  Mr.  J.  O.  Wood,  of  Wabash  Co.,  with  no  sheds,  and  is  ninety  feet  long  by 
111.,  one  of  the  most  scientific  farmers  of     forty-six  feet  wide  by  twenty  feet  to  the 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


179 


eaves  and  thirty-seven  and  one-half  feet  to 
the  comb.  The  frame  work  consists  of  sev- 
en Dents  placed  fifteen  feet  apart.  There  is 
'   driveway  through  the  center  closed  with 


and  this  must  be  taken  into  consideration 
when  planning  to  build.  Some  farmers 
when  depending  on  local  carpenters  pre- 
fer to  make  a  building  higher  at  the  sides 


double  hinged  doors  at  each  end.  The 
large  mow  above  holds  ninety  to  one  hun- 
dred tons  of  hay  which  is  taken  up  inside 
at  the  end  of  the  driveway,  the  floor  be- 
ing afterwards  replaced  and  the  section 
blown  full  of  shredded  fodder. 

One  side  below  is  used  for  horses  and 
the  other  for  cattle  with  mangers  adjacent 
to  driveway.  It  will  stable  fifteen  horses 
and  from  twenty  to  forty  cattle. 

Good  ventilation  is  supplied  by  small 
doors  on  a  level  with  the  heads  of  the  ani- 
mals. The  barn  is  built  on  solid  brick 
foundation  and  the  frame  is  of  sawed  oak 
timbers;  siding  is  pine  ship  lap  and  roof 
red  cedar  shingles.  It  was  built  in  1903  at 
a  cost  of  $1,500,  Mr.  Woods  furnishing 
timber  for  frame  from  his  own  forest  and 
doing  all  of  his  own  hauling.  The  only 
change  he  would  make  in  building  again 
would  be  to  build  four  feet  higher  for 
greater  mow  capacity. 

This  barn  is  unusually  high  at  the  sides. 
Boards  twenty  feet  long  for  boarding-  up 
and  down  are  not  usually  easy  to  obtain 


with  a  plain  straight  roof  like  this  rather 
than  to  undertake  a  curb  roof  with  the 


lj;T3-RlCK  PIERS' 

CTfOSS,     SECTION 

extra  skill  and  care  in  framing  that  such 
a  roof  entails. 
We  show  this  barn  as  an  old  fashioned 


i8o 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


type  that  has  a  great  many  advocates 
among  practical  farmers.  There  are  res- 
trictions in  barn  building  as  well  as  other 
things.  What  suits  one  community  or 
one  farmer  is  not  to  be  recommended  for 
another  and  a  great  deal  depends  on  the 
carpenters  within  reach.  Almost  any 
local   carpenter  can   lay   out  a  'barn   like 


drive  through  with  a  hay  rack  loaded  with 
roughage  from  the  fields  for  both  cows 
and  horses  and  the  driveway  is  supposed 
to  be  floored  over  with  timbers  heavy 
enough  to  support  a  mow  above. 

Openings  are  shown  by  the  dotted  lines 
for  putting  down  hay  and  straw  in  winter 
and  there  is  another  opening  in  the  center 


CORN  CRIS 

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this,  take  the  usual  handy  men  about  the 
place  as  helpers  and  push  the  work  along 
from  beginning  to  finish  without  a  hitch; 
when  the  same  carpenter  with  the  same 
help  would  be  bothered  to  death  with  the 
intricacies  of  a  more  complicated  building. 
There  are  more  economical  barns  than 
this  in  regard  to  space  because  you  lose  a 
good  deal  out  of  the  center  of  the  barn  witli 
such  a  long  driveway.  On  the  other  hand 
one  half  of  the  barn  is  devoted  to  cows  and 
this  driveway  answers  for  a  feed  room  to 


for  the  hay  fork  in  summer  when  the  barn 
is  being  filled.  This  center  opening  should 
be  covered  with  poles  or  planks  and  hay 
thrown  over  it  to  prevent  a  draught.  The 
hay  chutes  should  be  boxed  around  and 
closed  at  the  floor  level  with  weighted 
trap  doors  for  the  same  reason.  One  of 
the  greatest  objections  to  openings  of  this 
kind  is  the  draught  they  create.  X'entil- 
ation  is  absolutely  necessary  where  a  num- 
ber of  animals  are  kept  together,  but  ven- 
tilation docs  not  mean  a  draught. 


YANKEE  BARN— Ai 34 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

A  style  of  barn  that  is  often  seen  in  New 
England  is  given  in  plan  (A134).  The 
horses  and  cows  occupy  part  of  the  first 
floor,  leaving  a  space  in  one  corner  that 
makes  a  convenient  storage  for  farm  tools. 


There  is  a  driveway  through  this  part  ot 
the  barn  and  the  door  is  large  enough  to 
get  in  with  a  hay-rack  or  a  grain  drill. 

The  upper  part  of  the  barn  is  used  al- 
most altogether  for  hay  storage,  the  hay 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


^/0£:  ^L£ry-/7T/0N 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


being  lifted  from  the  driveway  by  a  horse- 
fork.  It  makes  the  stable  much  warmer 
to  run  the  partitions  in  front  of  the  cows 
and  horses  to  the  ceiling  above.  Unfor- 
tunately, too  many  farmers  are  careless 
about  such  things  and  their  animals  often 
suffer  in  large  draughty  stalls. 

This  barn  is  thirty-six  feet  wide  by  sixty 
feet  long,  not  very  large  on  the  ground  for 
a  farm  barn,  but  the  shape  of  the  roof 
helps  out  very  much  in  storage. 

It  is  floored  over  with  the  exception  of 
an  opening  over  the  driveway  and  as  this 
floor  is  only  nine  feet  above  the  ground  it 
leaves  a  very  large  loft. 

There  are  a  great  many  Yankee  barns 
without  so  many  windows,  but  the  win- 
dows are  a  great  advantage.  It  is  much 
easier  and  more  pleasant  to  do  work  in  a 
light  barn  and  the  animals  do  better.  It 
is  difficult  to  account  for  so  many  dark 
barns,  except  that  the  fashion  was  estab- 
lished when  the  country  was  new  and  win- 


dow lights  were  a  great  deal  more  expen- 
sive than  they  are  now.     Glass  and  sash 


CA/O      £LCy/fT/ON 


are  just  about  as  cheap  as  siding,  there  is 
no  economy  in  building  dark  barns. 


BARN  FOR  A  SMALL  FARM— A 1 60 
^  Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 

This  is  a  small  barn  for  a  small  farm     horses  and  about  fifty  fowls  and  there  is 
where  four  or  five  horses  are  kept  besides     room  for  a  couple  of  breeding  sows.    In 


a  few  milch  cows  and  a  little  other  stock,     every  stable  a  box  stall  or  two  comes  in 
This  barn  was  designed  for  10  cows,  five     handy.   A  box  stall  is  almost  an  absolute 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


183 


necessity  sometime  during  the  year  either 
for  sick  animals  or  because  some  special 
attention  is  required. 

The  entire  upper  part  is  floored  and 
there  is  an  opening  over  the  storage  and 
implement  room  to  pitch  up  hay,  straw 
and  other  forage.  This  same  opening  an- 
swers for  passing  feed  down  to  the  man- 
gers from  the  feed  lofts. 

There  are  windows  all  around  this  barn 
for  light  and  ventilation;  a  provision  that 
is  too  often  left  out  when  farm  barn  plans 


The  floor  of  this  stable  should  be  of  con- 
crete with  the  upper  layer  an  inch  thick 
composed  of  one  part  Portland  cement 
and  two  parts  clear  soft  sand  but  in  mak- 
ing a  floor  like  this  is  should  be  remem- 
bered that  hard  smooth  cement  is  slippery 
and  dangerous.  The  passage  way  may  be 
marked  ofif  in  diamonds  with  a  regular'tool 
which  presses  into  the  soft  cement  about 
one-half  inch  deep,  but  if  the  work  is  done 
on  the  farm  and  the  usual  mason's  imple- 
ments are  not  at  hand,  a  smooth  rake  han- 


are  made.  It  is  not  necessary  to  shut  a 
barn  all  up  dark,  and  it  is  not  advisable  to 
do  so.  Windows  do  not  cost  much  more 
than  siding  and  the  sun  and  light  let  in 
is  a  great  advantage  to  stock. 


QAn// 


die  may  be  used  by  imbedding  it  in  the  soft 
cement    half   its   thickness.      The   handle 
should  not  be  more  than  three-fourths  or 
seven-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Unless  the  concrete  foundation  in  this 


i84 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


driveway  is  of  superior  quality  the  cement 
top  layer  should  be  more  than  an  inch  in 
thickness,  perhaps  two  inches  in  the  cen- 
ter, tapering  to  an  inch  at  the  sides  next 
to  the  stalls. 

In  laying  a  concrete  floor  in  any  build- 
ing it  is  necessary  to  run  a  wall  around  the 


outside  and  this  wall  should  extend  below 
frost.  If  the  ground  is  inclined  to  damp- 
ness, it  is  better  to  run  a  three  inch  or  four 
inch  drain  tile  all  around  the  wall  along 
the  bottom  and  the  outlet  of  this  tile 
should  be  carried  away  from  the  building 
eight  or  ten  feet  and  terminate  in  a  drain. 


SMALL  FARM  BARN— A 169 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


A  neat  little  barn  that  is  well  propor- 
tioned and  suitable  for  a  farm  of  twenty 
or  thirty  acres  is  given  in  these  illustra- 
tions. There  is  a  threshing  floor  in  the 
middle  with  wide  double  doors  in  the  north 
side  as  well  as  in  the  south  side  making 
a  good  liberal  passageway  through  the 
center  of  the  barn. 


stalls.  The  cow  stable  side  has  a  ceiling 
seven  feet  high.  Cows  don't  get  their 
heads  up  as  high  as  horses  do  and  they 
don't  need  such  a  high  ceiling.  Cows  keep 
warmer  in  a  stable  with  a  low  ceiling  and 
if  there  is  plenty  of  chance  for  the  air  to 
get  in  and  out  again  they  have  good  ven- 
tilation. 


On  one  side  of  the  driveway  is  a  granary 
and  stabling  for  three  horses  with  a  nine 
foot  ceiling.  A  third  of  the  barn  on  the 
other  side  of  the  driveway  is  made  into  a 
cow    stable    making    seven    good    roomy 


It  seems  difficult  for  some  live  stock  men 
to  understand  this  phenomenon.  The  rea- 
son is  the  air  circulates  more  freely  when 
it  is  warm.  The  body  heat  of  seven  cows 
in  this  stable  with  a  low  ceiling  will  warm 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


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PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


the  air  sufficiently  to  keep  it  in  circulation. 
If  there  are  openings  where  the  fresh  air 
can  get  in,  the  foul  air  will  find  its  way  out 
and  there  will  be  a  constant  change. 

Both  the  cow  stable  and  horse  stable  are 
boarded  up  in  front,  but  barn  boarding 
usually  is  not  very  tight.  Unless  matched 
stuf¥  is  used  there  is  a  little  opening  be 
tween  the  boards  that  allow  for  the  escape 
of  a  good  deal  of  bad  air.  There  usually 
is  considerable  space  around  the  doors. 
There  are  feed  doors  in  front  of  the  stable 
so  the  fodder  may  be  put  in  from  the  barn 
floor. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  use  a  horse 
fork  in  a  barn  of  this  size.  The  flooring 
overhead  does  not  cover  the  whole  of  the 
threshing  floor  so  that  hay  and  grain  in 
the  sheaf  is  forked  up  by  hand.  It  will  be 
noticed  by  referring  to  the  transverse  and 
longitudinal  sections  that  the  timber  is 
very  carefully  planned  for  size  and  length 
in  proportion  to  the  building.   Every  stick 


is  necessary  but  there  is  not  a  piece  too 
many. 


KESLER  BARN— A189 

The  illustration  shows  a  very  attractive     twenty-eight  feet  wide  by  fifty-two  feet 
and  handy  barn.     It  consists  of  main  part     long,  eighteen  feet  to  the  eaves  and  thirty- 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


187 


five  feet  to  the  comb.  On  the  north  is  a 
low  sheep  shed  forty  feet  long  by  fourteen 
feet  wide,  and  extending  east  of  this  is  an- 
other low  addition  twenty-six  feet  long  by 
eighteen  feet  wide,  the  north  half  of  which 
is  used  for  horse  stalls,  hog  house  and  corn 


are  at  work  on  the  farm,  as  at  threshing 
time. 

A  driveway  runs  through  the  main  build- 
ing from  east  to  west,  on  one  side  below 
which  are  horse  stalls  and  corn  crib.  On 
either  side  of  the  driveway  above  are  hay 


FKELTO     -RACK 


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130X  3TALL 


F»AS5>AGEL 


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HOG-  HOU-SI 


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CONsT^TAJ-i 


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FELE-TO    ALUHY 


StsTAGOH     ^HHK) 


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crib,  the  corn  crib  being  built  over  the  hog 
compartment.  The  south  half  of  this  ex- 
tension is  an  open  shed.  Also  an  open  shed 
extends  along  the  east  side  of  the  main 
building  and  is  equipped  with  mangers  for 
six  horses  to  be  used  when  extra  teams 


mows  which  hold  about  fifty  tons  of  hay 
which  is  taken  up  from  the  center  inside. 

North  of  the  middle  horse  stalls  and  crib 
are  the  cow  stalls,  a  three  foot  feedway 
running  between  them. 

The  plan  as  given  includes  a  leanto  on 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


the  north  end  which  extends  all  the  way 
across  the  end  of  the  barn  and  is  attached 
to  the  open  shed  which  contains  a  box  stall 
and  a  hog  house  and  joins  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  main  barn.  The  sTied  for 
sheep  is  a  good  arrangement  and  it  is  plac- 


shed  like  this  with  a  roof  sloping  to  the 
north  makes  a  very  good  shelter. 

In  this  case  the  feed  rack  is  built  on  the 
north  side  of  the  shed  and  it  may  be  filled 
by  putting  down  hay  from  the  mow  over- 
head.    The  mow  is  not  very  large,  but  as 


J 

SHILELT=     l_OT 

1 — ^ 

RL.AN     OF   J3ARN 

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n 

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ISARN    YARD 

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BARN    l^OT                               jj 

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SCAUr.    SHZ.13 

i^-oxiy-o' 

^  \ 

ed  right.  Sheep  have  no  Inisiness  in  the 
common  barnyard;  they  are  likely  to  get 
hurt  and  they  are  a  nuisance  at  feeding 
time.  Sheep  carry  their  own  blanket  with 
them  and  they  require  no  warmth  from 
the  building  except  at  yeaning  time.     A 


the  shed  is  only  fourteen  feet  wide  feed 
is  easily  shoved  through  from  the  main 
barn.  This  method  of  feeding  is  much 
better  tlian  putting  hay  down  through  an 
open  chute  amongst  the  sheep.  They 
crowd  under  the  falling  feed  and  they  get 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


189 


their  wool  so  filled  with  chaff  and  seeds 
that  it  aft'ects  the  sale  of  it,  besides  the 
dirt  and  dust  is  no  benefit  to  the  sheep. 

Keep  sheep  dry  and  have  a  lot  for  them 
to  run  out  in  during  the  day  time.  Drain- 
age must  be  looked  to  or  water  will  ac- 
cumulate when  the  snow  melts  towards 
spring. 

As  a  usual  thing  it  is  not  a  good  plan 
to  have  a  hog  house  in  connection  with  the 
barn  but  on  a  great  many  farms  only  a 
few  hogs  are  kept  and  they  are  allowed 
to  run  out  on  pasture  most  of  the  time. 
In  such  cases  a  hog  house  built  into  the 
far  end  of  this  northeast  shed  is  permissi- 
ble, though  not  advisable.  During  these 
days  of  specialties  it  is  better  to  have 
small  movable  hog  houses  than  to  let  them 
come  anywhere  near  the  barn. 

The  box  stall  under  this  shed  will  be 
found  very  useful  to  stable  a  horse  or  cow 
when  they  need  veterinary  attention,  or 
to  hold  a  mare  and  colt,  or  for  two  or  three 
spring  colts  during  their  first  winter.  In 
fact  it  will  be  a  better  plan  to  build  two 


CROSS     SUCTION 

or  three  box  stalls  under  this   shed  and 
make  provision  elsewhere  for  the  hogs. 


BARN  WITH  ELL  SHED— A163 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


A  small  barn  with  an  ell  shed  attached 
is  shown  in  this  design.  The  barn  proper 
which  is  28  feet  wide  by  56  feet  long  is  in- 
tended to  accommodate  five  head  of  horses 
in  about  one-third  of  the  floor  space  leav- 
ing the  other  part  for  a  driveway  with 
storage  for  grain,  hay  and  farming  imple- 
ments. The  whole  of  the  second  floor  is 
given  over  to  storage  for  hay  or  grain  in 
the  sheaf. 

A  hay  bay  extends  from  the  ground  to 
the  roof  in  one  end  of  the  building  but  a 
floor  extends  over  the  stable  and  the  great- 
er part  of  the  threshing  floor.  The  thresh- 
ing floor  section  may  be  partitioned  off 
from  the  horse  stable  to  make  the  stable 
[Warmer. 

The  shed  forms  an  L  running  across  the 
north  and  west  sides  of  the  barn  yard, 
leaving  the  south  side  open  to  the  sun. 
This  arrangement  breaks  the  north  and 


the  west  wind  and  provides  a  comfortable 
barn  yard  for  winter. 

Stalls  for  12  cows  are  built  in  the  north 


/     ^'XlK     ^^ 


ITs 


n 


190 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


shed  by  putting  two  cows  in  each  stall. 
This  shed  has  a  cement  floor  built  like  a 
sidewalk  and  the  floor  extends  out  under 
the  projecting  roof  which  comes  over  a 
few  feet  into  the  yard  forming  a  protec- 
tion against  rain  and  snow. 

It  is  something  that  every  barn  yard 


The  other  part  of  the  shed  is  open  to  the 
weather  on  the  east  side  looking  towards 
the  barn,  an  arrangement  that  makes 
about  as  comfortable  a  barn  yard  as  pos- 
sible to  obtain  without  roofing  the  whole 
thing. 

This  little  barn  with  shed  attachment 


should  have  because  there  are  times  when 
the  yard  is  wet  and  muddy  in  spite  of  cv- 


is  not  expensive  but  is  more  convenient 
than  some  larger  structures.    The  cost  is 


Y     NK    NK     HV 


£ 


i 


n 


ery  precaution.  A  wide  roof  dripping  into  within  the  reach  of  any  farmer  although 
a  barn  yard  is  objectionable  but  the  dri])  he  may  not  have  more  than  20  acres  of 
from  this  little  short  roof  is  insignificant,     land.     A  transverse  section  is  shown  giv- 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


191 


ing  a  good  idea  of  how  the  building  is     put  together  and  there  is  no  waste  of  tim- 
framed.   It  is  a  strong  frame  that  is  easily     ber. 


fcEDlt^C     ftooA 


1  i-A  1  n^ 


^ 


n. 


n. 

SECTION  THROUGH  SHED 


GENERAL  PLAN. 


May  6ay 


THRCSMIflfr    TLooq 


HonsE  BAFin 


^^L 


It  is  possible  to  arrange  a  barn  like  this 
with  sheds  that  will  make  a  better  appear- 
ance on  the  farm  and  house  stock  better 
than  some  expensive  barns. 


CATTLE  BARN— Ai  15 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


A  medium  sized  barn  to  accommodate 
eight  cows  and  six  horses  is  given  in  plan 
(A115).  The  size  on  the  ground  is  thirty- 
two  by  forty-four,  which  is  not  very  large 
for  a  farm  barn,  but  it  is  not  intended  to 
be  a  large  one.  The  first  floor  is  divided 
into  three  parts;  the  horses  occupy  one, 
the  cows  another  and  the  middle  section, 
fifteen  feet  wide,  is  left  for  general  pur- 
poses. It  ^nswers  for  a  feed  room,  storage 
for  a  wagon  or  two  and  general  barn  pur- 
poses. The  second  floor  covers  the  whole 
building  with  a  couple  of  hay  chutes  to  let 
down  feed  and  straw  to  the  horses  and  cat- 
tle. It  hardly  pays  to  work  a  horse  fork 
in  a  barn  of  this  size.  The  stuff  may  be 
put  in  by  hand  from  the  outside  throitgh 
doors  that  open  down  to  the  floor.  There 
is  no  waste  space  in  this  plan,  every  foot 


is  made  use  of  to  the  best  advantage,  and 
the  barn  will  be  found  very  useful  on  farms 


nrrr 


T     T 


^i 


■  92 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


0  0  0 


r/^oo/^  r/./1/v  or  //o/fj^  /7a/d c/tttlb:  B/r/f/^ 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


193 


where  a  small  number  of  cows  and  about 
the  usual  number  of  horses  are  kept.  The 


with  siding.     May  be  made  any  length. 
A  good  feature  about  this  barn  is  that  it 


/^/./F7-£:  rj/j- 


00  Of? 
i'-a'tfo 


i-e'x/V'-e' 


g'xr 


000/? 


AOA/Cr/rC//7/A/'/7L     sS£:Cr/OA/ 


plans  show  the  construction  in  detail.     It 
may  be  boarded  up  and  down  or  covered 


can  be  added  to  without  interfering  with 
the  general  arrangement  in  any  way. 


MOUNT  CARMEL  BARN— A186 


This  is  a  medium  large,  attractive  and 
serviceable  barn  on  a  120-acre  farm.  It 
stands  on  a  solid  concrete  foundation  wall 
three  feet  deep  and  eight  inches  wide  at 
the  top.  It  is  eighty-four  feet  long,  forty 
feet  wide,  twenty  feet  to  the  eaves,  and 
thirty-eight  feet  to  the  comb.  There  are 
six  bents  of  fourteen  feet  span  each.  The 
frame  timbers  are  six  by  eight  inches,  oak 
stufif,  and  the  rafters  two  by  five  inches  of 
the  same  material.  The  siding  is  matched 
white  pine  painted  red,  and  the  roof  is  of 
red  cedar  shingles.  There  is  a  vegetable 
and  fruit  cellar  under  north  end  of  drive- 
way twelve  by  twenty  feet  by  seven  feet 
deep.  The  hay  mow  of  the  barn  covers  the 
entire  upper  floor  forty  by  eight-four  feet 
by  twelve  feet  to  top  of  side  posts,  and 
will  hold  about  one  hundred  tons  of  hay. 


It  is  fitted  up  with  modern  hay  fork  and 
track,  and  hay  is  taken  into  the  mow  from 


•CONCRETTCv, 


either  end,  the  openings  being  provided 
with  pairs  of  swinging  doors.    Corn-cribs 


t94 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


195 


are  bu'lt  in  two  corners  as  shown  and  they 
arp  properly  ventilated. 

Running  full  length  of  both  sides  of  the 
barn  are  self-supporting  six  foot  sheds 
which  allows  full  ventilation  of  the  stables 
during  summer  through  the  open  doors, 
but  protection  against  both  sun  and  rain. 


The  barn  will  stable  eight  horses  and 
twelve  cows,  the  mangers  all  facing  the 
long  feed  or  driveway.  The  general  ap- 
pearance is  imposing.  The  cost  is  $1,800, 
Mr.  Risley  doing  his  own  hauling  and  fur- 
nishing the  frame  timbers  from  his  own 
woods. 


CONCRETE  AND  WOOD   BARN— A213 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 
Design  of  a  practical  farm  barn  suitable     The  basement  also  contains  a  room  for 
for  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  where  the  farm-     wagons  and  buggies  with  a  wash  floor  de- 


^/r?£L 


zr  z- £r  w<A."7- /  o /^^ 


er  wishes  to  keep  a  dozen  cows  and  five  or 
six  work  horses  in  the  basement  with  stor- 
age overhead  for  hay  and  other  roughage. 


pression  in  the  center,  an  arrangement 
that  makes  a  combination  horse  and  cow 
barn  with  three  box  stalls  for  calves  or 


196 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


other  stock.  It  is  a  convenient  arrange- 
ment where  a  farmer  has  only  the  one 
main  barn. 

Among  the  novel  features  in  this  barn  is 
a  cement  floor  with  cement  partitions  be- 
tween horse  stalls.     These  partitions  are 


tions  and  mice  and  rats  are  not  trouble- 
some, because  they  find  no  harbor  of  pro- 
tection. 

The  balance  of  the  barn  is  of  frame  con- 
struction with  a  curb  roof.    Another  inter- 


^-<r/A£j 


zT/^z?     ZXZ^  uiccr/  o/v 


c-RO-53    v^zrcTvo/^/ 


made  of  reinforced  concrete  and  are  round-  esting  feature  of  this  barn  is  the  two  large 
ed  down  to  meet  the  floor  at  the  bottom  galvanized  iron  ventilators  with  glass  tops 
which  makes  a  very  solid  and  lasting  stall,     which  conducts  the  foul  air  from  the  bot- 


^ 


I.-- 


\. 


The  standing  floors  in  the  stalls  arc  cov- 
ered with  planks  which  of  course  are  re- 
newed occasionally,  but  the  stall  bottoms, 
partitions  and  cement  mangers  are  there 
\.o  stay.     Horses  do  not  gnaw  such  parti- 


torn  of  the  stable  out  through  the  roof. 
The  cross  section  shows  the  cement  floor 
with  piers  and  footings  in  profile  and  the 
cement  work  is  indicated  on  the  different 
plans  and  elevations. 


Department  of 

Horse    Barns 


HORSE  BARNS 


FARM  buildings  serve  their  purpose 
best  when  especially  adapted  to  the 
specific  use  required  of  them.  Horse 
barns  should  be  different  from  any  other 
building  on  the  farm.  The  health  and  com- 
fort of  horses  should  be  the  first  consid- 
eration, but  convenience  in  attending  to 
their  wants  and  requirements,  makes  a 
close   second. 

All  horse  stables  should  be  well  ventil- 
ated. Every  farmer  knows  that  there  is 
a  great  difference  in  stables  in  this  res- 
pect. Some  stables  are  so  built  that  you 
would  rather  keep  out  of  them  if  possible 
because  they  can't  be  kept  clean.  The 
smell  of  ammonia  is  always  present  and 
when  the  doors  are  shut  it  is  very  dis- 
agreeable. Imagine  shutting  a  valuable 
horse  up  in  such  an  atmosphere  at  night 
and  expect  to  find  him  in  good  condition 
in  the  morning.  Horses  are  the  most  ex- 
pensive animals  on  the  farm  and  the  most 
susceptible  to  disease;  hence,  the  first  con- 
sideration in  a  stable  should  be  to  pro- 
mote the  health  of  the  horses. 

A  horse  stable  should  be  cool  and  airy 
in  summer  and  it  should  be  warm  and  well 
ventilated  in  winter.  The  floor  should 
be  made  in  such  a  manner  that  it  will  not 
absorb  the  liquids  from  the  manure,  and 
there  should  be  no  crack  to  let  these  liq- 
uids down  underneath  to  ferment  and  des- 
troy the  air  in  the  building.  Stable  ceil- 
ings must  necessarily  be  high  enough  to 
permit  a  horse  to  get  his  head  up.  Horses 


are  warm  animals,  that  is  they  contain 
body  heat  enough  to  warm  a  stable  when 
conditions  are  as  they  should  be. 

Before  starting  to  build  put  a  little 
time  on  the  study  of  ventilation.  Read 
up  on  the  circulation  of  warm  air.  Don't 
depend  on  others  because  they  might  not 
understand  the  particular  conditions  you 
are  dealing  with.  It  is  well  enough  to  ask 
advice,  but  get  the  information  from  dif- 
ferent sources  so  that  you  may  be  able  to 
sift  the  quality  of  your  instructions  suf- 
ficiently to  keep  the  grain  and  discard  the 
chaff.  Don't  blindly  copy  a  stable  that 
some  one  else  has  built  without  carefully 
considering  whether  it  fits  your  require- 
ments. A  horse  stable  that  works  all 
right  for  one  farmer  is  all  wrong  for 
another,  because  his  horses  may  be  larger, 
or  has  more  of  them,  or  he  handles  them 
differently.  Some  farmers  have  a  lot  of 
horses  that  they  press  into  service  in  the 
summer  time  and  turn  them  out  in  the 
yards  and  sheds  to  winter.  Such  farmers 
usually  raise  horses  to  sell  and  have  more 
than  they  need  at  all  times.  Other  far- 
mers keep  just  what  horses  they  need  to 
do  the  work.  They  keep  four  horses  or 
six  horses  the  year  round  and  they  have 
no  intention  of  altering  their  usual  cus- 
tom. But  in  either  case  a  man  can  ar- 
range a  stable  for  a  certain  number  of 
horses  and  build  it  accordingly. 

In  cold  weather  a  stable  big  enough  for 
six  horses  will  not  be  warm  enough  if  only 


197 


198 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


two  are  stabled.  If  for  any  reason  the 
stable  is  too  large  it  is  better  to  fill  it  up 
with  cows  in  the  winter  for  the  reason 
that  you  cannot  have  ventilation  without 
heat.  On  general  principles  it  is  more 
satisfactory  to  keep  horses  in  a  building 
by  themselves  and  it  is  but  little  extra 
expense  to  do  so. 

When  possible  a  horse  stable  should 
contain  a  carriage  room  that  is  reason- 
bly  free  from  dust.  Every  man  has  or 
should  have  the  ambition  to  keep  a  rig  for 
the  road  that  is  decently  clean.  He  owes 
it  to  himself  and  his  family  to  provide  a 
respectable  turnout.  A  farmer's  family 
depends  for  change  and  recreation  on  the 


opportunity  to  get  away  from  home  by 
means  of  the  horses.  They  are  judged 
to  a  very  great  extent  by  the  apperance 
they  make.  You  cannot  get  away  from 
the  fact  that  a  person's  social  standing 
in  the  community  is  largely  arranged  for 
them  by  the  opinion  of  others.  No  man 
is  independent  enough  to  stand  alone. 
A  man's  usefulness  in  the  community  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  appearance  that  he 
and  his  family  make  on  dress  occasions, 
and  the  appearance  in  turn  depends  very 
much  on  the  horses,  harness  and  wagons 
that  they  use  when  driving  on  the  public 
road. 


PLAIN  HORSE  BARN— A161 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 


A  plain  straight-away  horse  barn  with 
ten  single  stalls,  five  box  stalls,  feed  room, 
harness  room  and  vehicle  room  with  a 
wash  platform  in  the  center  is  given  in 
this  plan.  There  is  a  driveway  through 
the  center  wide  enough  to  admit  a  load  of 


This  barn  will  easily  accommodate  fif- 
teen horses  and  it  will  hold  feed  enough 
to  supply  them  for  a  long  time.  The 
building  is  thirty-seven  feet  wide  by  six- 
ty-eight feet  long.  It  is  set  on  a  stone 
foundation  with  two  rows  of  stone  piers 


•  ,k'i(i..i.iii. 


hay  or  a  load  of  straw,  if  so  desired,  but 
there  are  doors  opening  outside  in  the  ga- 
ble to  pitch  in  hay  and  straw,  either  by 
hand  or  horse  fork,  so  it  would  not  be  nec- 
essary ordinarily  to  drive  inside  with  a 
bulky  load,  but  a  good  passageway  be- 
tween horse  stalls  is  a  great  convenience 
anyway. 


supporting  the  floor  joists  and  posts  which 
run   to  purlin   plates. 

There  is  a  large  vent  shaft  running  from 
the  stable  ceiling  to  and  through  the  hay 
mow  with  doors  for  throwing  down  hay 
or  fodder  as  well  as  for  ventilation.  Grain 
in  sacks  can  be  hoisted  up  this  ventilator 
shaft  and  conveniently  dumped  into  feed 


I 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


199 


bins  which  have  hopper  bottoms  and 
spouts  leading  to  the  mixing  room  below. 

In  the  driveway  at  one  side  of  the  mix- 
ing room  door  is  a  water  supply  pipe  and 
watering  trough  with  a  hose  connection 
to  supply  water  to  the  wash  room  on  the 
floor  of  the  vehicle  room. 

The  stalls  are  floored    with    a    double 


thickness  of  oak  flooring  one  and  three- 
quarter  inches  thick  slightly  sloping  to 
cast  iron  gutters,  which  run  the  entire 
length  of  the  stall  room  on  each  side  of 
the  driveway.  The  first  thickness  of 
these  stall  floors  is  laid  in  hot  tar,  then 
two  thicknesses  of  tar  roofing  felt  is  put 
on  being  well  mopped  over  with  tar,  and 
this  covered  with  the  upper  thickness  of 
oak  one  and  three-quarter  inch  flooring. 

Where  a  great  many  horses  are  to  be 
fed  overhead  feed  bins  are  a  great  conven- 
ience. The  bottoms  may  be  made  hopper 
shape  as  shown  in  the  plan,  or  they  may 
be  level.  A  hopper,  of  course,  is  best,  but 
with  a  flat  bottom  a  little  accumulation 
of  grain  around  the  edges  at  the  bottom 
is  all  that  remains  when  the  grain  stops 
running  down  the  spout,  and  flat  bottom 
bins  are  cheaper. 

The  main  entrance  doors  are  both  wide 
and  high.  Unless  the  door  is  large 
enough  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  get  out. 
The  door  must  have  a  good  height  because 
you  want  room  for  a  carriage  or  a  top 


buggy.  We  all  have  had  experience  in 
catching  a  buggy  top  on  the  lintel  of  a 
low  door  way.  It  seems  to  be  the  proper 
occasion  for  saying  things.  No  builder 
likes  to  have  such  remarks  made  about 
him. 

There  is  a  good  row  of  box  stalls.  It 
is  difficult  to  plan  a  decent  sized  box  stall 
in  a  small  stable.  They  run  into  room  too 
fast.  Nothing  looks  so  comfortable  for 
a  good  horse  as  a  roomy  box  stall.  If  the 
horses  had  their  way  about  it  there  would 
be  more  box  stalls,  but  it  really  requires 
about  three  times  as  much  room  to  stable 
horse  in  this  way.  No  man  begrudges  the 
room,  but  most  men  don't  like  to  put  up 
money  enough  to  enclose  it  properly. 

The  ideal  arrangement  for  stabling  a 
horse  is  a  big  box  stall  with  a  good  sized 
window  for  light  and  a  door  cut  in  half  so 
that  the  upper  part  may  be  left  open  dur- 
ing the  daytime  to  let  the  horse  look  out. 
A  box  stall  shut  up  tight  is  a  prison  for  a 
horse,  they  like  to  see  things  as  well  as 
other  folks. 

Some  box  stalls  are  fitted  with  rubbing 
boards.     They  consist  of  planks  about  two 


inches  thick  turned  edgewise  to  the  horse 
and  fastened  to  the  sides  of  the  stall  just 
low  enough  down  so  the  horse  can't  rub 
his  tail.  A  box  stall  needs  no  floor  and 
there  should  be  no  feed  rack  or  manger.  A 
box  on  the  ground  to  feed  oats  is  all  the 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


manger  necessary.  The  hay  should  be  put  It  is  quite  common  to  see  the  inner  walls 
in  at  frequent  intervals  in  small  quantities  of  a  stable  in  winter  white  with  frost.  The 
placed  lightly    on    the    floor  or  bedding     frost  wouldn't  be  there  if  the  stable  was 


jp  up  w  w  w  w  up  up  up  IJ 


against  the  side  of  the  stall.  This  way  of 
feeding  has  often  cured  horses  of  chronic 
indigestion. 

In  building  a  stable  it  is  a  great  deal 
better  to  find  out  all  these  little  detai's 
and  build  accordingly.  There  are  several 
reasons  why  box  stalls  are  better  than 
standing  stalls  with  man'xcrs.  A  horse 
loves  his  freedom.  To  understand  this 
it  is  only  necessary  to  watch  a  horse  when 
you  take  the  bridle  or  halter  ofT. 

One  great  defect  in  horse  stalls  as  you 
ordinarily  see  them  is  lack  of  ventilation. 


dry  as  it  should  be.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
put  in  an  elaborate  system  of  ventilating 
pipes  in  a  small  stable.  The  windows  and 
doors  are  sufficient  if  they  are  managed 
right.  The  breath  of  one  or  two  horses  is 
easily  taken  care  of,  but  even  in  small 
stables  such  things  often  are  neglected. 

In  this  plan  the  carriage  room  is  closed 
off  from  the  stable  which  is  right.  The 
odor  from  the  stable  is  a  damage  to  the 
carriages  and  to  the  rugs.  The  stable 
should  be  warmer  than  the  carriage  room 
so  the  door  works  right  from  both  sides. 


CONVENIENT  HORSE  BARN— A133 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 

Men  who  keep  good  horses  will  apjirc-  carriage  room  in  which  to  keep  vehicles 
ciate  this  plan.  The  arrangement  of  the  away  from  the  stable  part  and  out  of  the 
stalls  is  convenient  and  there  is  a  good     dust.      Every  farmer  who  takes  pride  in 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


20I 


his  horses  likes  to  have  a  nice  rig  to  drive, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  have  it  without  con- 
veniences for  keeping  it  clean.  With  a 
good  carriage  room  and  a  good  harness 


light.  There  is  a  general  work  bench  with 
a  vise  on  one  end  and  there  are  boxes  to 
hold  tools  and  supplies  on  the  dark  side  of 
the  room.     The    granary    will    be    large 


^/oe    CL  £:/^/?r/OAt 


room  there  is  no  excuse  for  dirty  buggies     enough    or    not    according    to  the    other 

or  an  unsightly  harness.  buildings  on  the  farm.  Where  there  is  a 

A  feature  of  this  barn  that  should  at-     large  grain  barn  for  threshing  a  smaller 


tract  special  attention  is  the  tool  room. 
It  is  nine  by  ten  feet  in  a  front  corner  of 
the  building  with  two  good  windows  for 


granary  in  the  horse  barn  seems  to  answer 
every  purpose.  The  granary  in  this  plan 
is  placed  right  because  it  may  be  shut  off 


202 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


with  two  doors  from  the  stable  part,  still         There  is  room  overhead  for  a  good  deal 

of  hay  and  straw.  The  hay  carrier  will 
bring  this  stuff  from  the  back  end  pretty 
well  through  to  the  front. 

It  would  probably  be  advisable  to  put  a 
cement  fioor  in  this  building. 

There  are  a  great  many  different  kinds 
of  floors  put  in  horse  stables,  in  fact  one 
style  or  manner  of  building  a  stable  floor 
seems  to  prevail  in  one  part  of  the  country 
when  another  county  perhaps  just  a  few 
miles  distant  seems  to  favor  a  very  differ- 
ent way  of  doing  things.  In  some  neigh- 
borhoods you  find  nothing  but  plank 
floors,  in  other  places  it  is  all  cement,  then 
it  is  not  so  far  away  as  to  make  feeding  again  you  get  into  a  neighborhood  where 
inconvenient.  there  are  no  floors  at  all. 


/-/?0/V  T     €L  a^/JT/ON 


EIGHT  HORSE  STABLE— A124 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

A  small  cheap  horse  stable  is  shown  in     horses  and  there  is  room  enough  overhead 
plan  (A124).     It  sometimes  happens  that     to  hold  the  straw  for  bedding,  but  it  would 

be    necessary   to    provide    the   feed    from 


■s/of:  £u.£ry/>T/OA/ 


a  separate  stable  for  horses  is  necessary 
because  of  the  manner  in  which  the  other 


buildings  are    constructed    and  occupied. 
This  little  stable  will  accommodate  eielit 


0/f/K£nr^y 


\30^  s  r^ics 

■A-r-  o'- 


so^  sr^jiL 


a<u  sr/TA/. 


some  near-by  storage.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  put  a  floor  in  this  stable  unless  it  be  on 
the  side  where  the  open  stalls  are  built. 
But  a  good  many  horse  stalls  have  stiff 
clay  pounded  in  and  there  are  plenty  of 
horsemen  who  prefer  such  stable  bottoms. 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 

CITY  STABLE  FOR  TWO  HORSES— Ai  14 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 


203 


A  very  neat  carriage  house  is  shown  in 
plan  (A114).  It  is  intended  to  house  two 
horses  and  have  room  enough  for  a  couple 
of  carriages.  The  building  is  supported 
bv  a  stone  wall  three  feet  in  the  ground 


The  way  a  driveway  approaches  thf 
stable  affects  the  appearance  of  the  stable 
a  good  deal.  Generally  a  pleasing  effect 
may  be  obtained  by  a  curved  driveway 
where  it   is  kept  neatly  trimmed  at  the 


and  one  foot  above  the  ground  to  keep  the 
floor  well  up,  but  the  height  of  course  must 
depend  on  the  nature  of  the  ground  and 
location  in  reference  to  the  street  and 
driveway.     It  is  not  desirable  to  approach 


•s/£>£:  Si.£:r>9r/oy 


jrcr/o/V'  1 


sides.  If  the  driveway  is  gently  rounded 
and  the  edges  kept  about  two  inches  low- 
er than  the  sod  it  is  easy  to  maintain  a 
clean  track  and  a  well  defined  edge  with- 
out putting  a  whole  lot  of  unnecessary 
work  on  it.     The  lawn  mower  will  trim 


nn 

« 

v 

D 

1 

1 

/^//fJT"    n.00/? 


the  main  doorway  by  a  very  steep  bridge 
because  it  is  often  necessary  to  run  car- 
riages out  and  in  by  hand.  Of  course  if 
it  is  necessary  to  set  the  floor  up  the  drive- 
way may  be  raised  accordingly,  this  how- 
ever very  often  runs  into  considerable  ex- 
pense. 


SECOND    fLOOR 

the  grass  and  a  spade  used  once  a  month 
will  keep  the  edge  of  the  drive  in  good 
shape. 

The  floor  of  this  carriage  house  is  made 
solid  by  running  a  heavy  girder  length- 
wise of  the  building  through  the  center. 
Joists  are  carried  from  the  sills  to  meet  the 


204 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


girder.  The  floor  is  double,  the  first  layer 
being  an  inch  thick  dressed  on  one  side  to 
make  the  boards  even  in  thickness,  is  laid 
diagonally.  On  top  of  this  is  laid  a  layer 
of  felt  roofing  mopped  with  tar,  both  un- 
neath  and  on  top.  The  upper  floor  is  one 
and  three-eighths  matched  hard  pine. 
In  the  stalls  two  inch  planks  are  laid 


lengthwise,  having  an  incline  of  two  inches 
in  the  length  of  the  stall.  These  planks 
are  nailed  to  one  cross  piece  in  the  middle 
and  another  cross  piece  a  little  thicker  un- 
der the  manger,  but  the  nailing  is  not  very 
solid  because  stable  planks  soon  wear 
through  and  it  is  necessary  to  turn  them 
end  for  end,  sometimes  within  a  year. 


SMALL  BARN  WITH  CEMENT    FLOOR— Ai  12 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

This  barn  is  twenty-two  feet  wide  by     the  plank,  back  of  this  the  planks  have 

thirty-four  feet   long  and  has   a  cement     free  ends  which  facilitate  drainage  back  to 

floor  cushioned   with   cinders   the   whole      the  gutter  and  makes  it  easy  to  remove  the 


u 


J-U.--^,-.-.  U-.^  L>Kf,.U«.i».l>^  v\ 


WcsT   EnD. 


size  of  the  building,  but  the  standing  stalls 
have  a  plank  floor  running  lengthwise  of 
the  stall  over  the  cement.     These  planks 


East  E.nD. 

floor  if  the  planks  should  split  or  wear  out. 

The  box  stall  may  have  an  earth  floor, 

if  so  desired,  three  or  four  inches  thick, 

made   of  good   stiff  clay   wet   down   and 


"P 


'-■-■--'"-'- '-^ 


'^    -..-■   ..    ■■   L-.     I...    ■■   .    1^.   1^      JJ. 


are  not  fastened  except  to  two  cross  pieces 
— one  under  the  manger  is  a  two  by  four 
laid  under  the  plank  to  give  them  the 
proper  pitch.  Another  cross  piece  an  inch 
thick  is  placed  in  the  middle  to  strengthen 


rtOfTH    diOC 


tamped  level  over  the  cement.  Some  horse- 
men prefer  a  cement  bottom  with  a  foot 
or  two  of  straw ;  either  way  is  good  enough 
if  the  horses  have  the  right  kind  of  care. 
The  oat  bin  is  in  the  hav  loft  and  the 


PRACTICAL     BARN    PLANS 


205 


corn  bin  may  be  put  there  too  if  the  space 
on  the  carriage  room  floor  is  needed.  By 


Sliding  doors  usually  are  preferred  for 
a  horse  barn,  and  half  door  for  ventila- 


3 


2 


having  the  feed  overhead  and  chutes  for  tion  is  a  good  thing.  A  horse  will  stand 
the  different  kinds  of  feed  to  the  floor  be-  for  hours  M^ith  his  head  out  of  such  a  door 
lov^,  feeding  is  made  easy.  with  evident  satisfaction. 

VILLAGE  STABLE  WITH  CELLAR— Ai  16 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 
A  very  neat,  attractive  stable  for  a  city     is  laid  down  below  frost,  or  it  may  be  car- 
or  village  is  here  given.  A  good  stone  wall     ried  a  little  deeper  and  the  part  under  the 


'a/fo^  stoiAM 


2o6 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


/^/?0/V  T    ^L  £:/^/7  r/o/v 


7 

; 


zsX^ 


eoi  ~sr/>t.L 


^s' 


Mfr/Tjvcii   ^oo/r 


^ 


' 


00 r  ^^  t-^' 

1 — 

t" 

L    ^r^ 

rjffjT  rioo/f  PI/) A/ 


jrCO/VO  nOO/?  PlMN 


i 


PRACTICAL     BARN    PLANS 


207 


carriage  room  excavated  for  a  cellar,  but 
in  this  case  the  retaining  wall  would  be 
necessary  on  the  stable  side  because  the 
box  stalls  are  supposed  to  have  an  earth 
floor.  Any  way,  you  don't  want  horses 
over  a  cellar.  The  elevation  is  pleasing 
because  it  is  not  exactly  plain,  still  there  is 
no  great  additional  expense  in  building  a 


roof  like  this  or  in  the  little  projection 
from  the  upper  door  in  front.  There  is 
storage  room  above  for  hay,  straw  and 
oats,  and  the  upper  door  is  wide  enough 
and  high  enough  to  admit  the  supply 
easily.  The  doors  to  the  box  stalls  should 
be  made  in  halves  so  that  the  upper  half 
may  be  opened  and  the  lower  half  closed. 


NEAT  BARN  FOR  HORSES— A 156 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

This  plan  is  a  very  neat  arrangement     stairway  occupies  as  little  space  as  possi- 

for  a  city  or  village  lot  where  two  horses     ble.  Another  nice  arrangement  about  this 

are  kept  together  with  the  necessary  car-     barn  is  the  location  of  the  manure  door. 


riages  and  harness  equipment.     The  car- 
riage room  with  rack  for  washing  buggies 


The  stalls  may  be  cleaned  and  the  manure 
thrown  out  at  the  back  as  far  away  as  pos- 


5) 


2 


H 

a  V_ 

/    1 

TE>     FIOOTT  ■ 


is  about  as  well  arranged  as  it  could  be 
and  the  harness  room  being  under  the 


sible  from  the  carriage  entrance  and  from 
the  side  entrance  to  the  man's  room. 

Where  horses  are  kept  in  town  there  is 
usually  a  lawn  that  requires  attention  and 


2o8 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


more  or  less  garden  work  to  look  after. 
For  this  reason  it  is  often  necessary  to 
keep  a  man  and  it  is  desirable  to  have  a 
room  that  he  can  occupy  outside  of  the 
house.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  man 
sleeping  in  the  stable  where  valuable 
horses  are  kept  so  this  arrangement  works 


first  rate  for  several  reasons.  It  is  hard  to 
keep  good  men  even  in  town  unless  they 
have  comfortable  accommodations.  This 
building  is  thoroughly  well  constructed 
and  the  room  arranged  for  the  man  is 
more  comfortable  than  similar  rooms  in 
some  houses. 


THREE  STORY  HORSE  BARN—  An 7 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 
A  bank  barn  for  horses,  thirty-two  by     on  one  side    and    bins    for    grain    on  the 
thirty-six  feet,  is  shown  in  this  plan.  The     other.  Above  this  main  floor  is  mow  room 

for  hay  and  straw. 
This  barn  will  furnish  stabling  for  eleven 


rffONT  CLcy/ir/OA/ 


1   '""* 

^^ 

■■ 

1 

cvre 

jr 

1 

I 

oiTir-et\//tY 

• 

I 

COffN  C/ftB 

\   SfAf 

1 

1 
1 

' /o-o' 

/-'•'  -- 

-^ 

/-//?jr      ^LOO/r      /=i./)N 


stable  is  in 
floor  there 


the  basement  and  on  the  main 
is  a  driveway  with  a  corn  crib 


/^lOO/i    /'Z/V/v    O/'   »0/fJ, 


horses   in    the   basement,   besides   a   feed 
room  which  is  connected  with  the  grain 


I 

1 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


209 


bins  above  and  the  corn  crib  as  well  as 
hay  mow  by  means  of  chutes.  The  hay 
and  oat  chutes  are  perpendicular  and  pass 
straight  down  from  the  loft  and  from  the 
grain  bin  to  the  feed  room  below.  But 
the  corn  chute  is  built  diagonally  across 
under  the  main  driveway  floor  to  carry  it 
over  to  the  feed  room.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  all  feed  rooms  should  be  shut 
off  from  the  stable  with  a  good  door. 
Most  of  us  have  had  experience  with 
horses  getting  loose  at  night  and  eating 
more  grain  than  was  good  for  them.  This 
corn  chute  is  twelve  by  fourteen  inches, 


which  is  small  enough,  considering  that  it 
is  a  slanting  chute.  All  grain  chutes  when 
built  in  this  way  require  to  be  larger  than 
when  placed  vertical,  because  there  is 
more  friction  in  the  passage  of  the  grain 
in  coming  down. 

The  corn  crib  is  ventilated  on  three 
sides  by  using  narrow  strips  nailed  to 
cleats  slanting  outward.  This  will  an- 
swer for  corn  that  is  reasonably  dry,  but 
unless  the  weather  is  favorable  it  is  not 
a  good  plan  to  fill  a  bin  like  this  full  of 
corn  without  some  kind  of  a  ventilator  in 
the  middle. 


CHEAP  HORSE  BARN— Ai  13 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


A  small  barn  with  two  double  stalls  and 
one  single  stall  with  standing  room  for 
another  horse  is  offered  in  this  plan.  The 


barn  is  twenty-six  feet  wide  and  thirty- 
two  feet  long,  one  half  of  which  is  parti- 
tioned off  for  a  stable  and  the  other  half 


noirfH  ^lot 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


is  kept    for    carriage    room    and  storage. 
There  is  no  foundation    under    this    barn 


m 


1 


■jc^ 


ri^Si 


Ftoon   PtAfi 


III  >V*" 


except  stone  or  brick  corners  and  center 
supports,  but  it  is  a  good  plan  to  put  a 


board  around  under  the  sill  and  bury  the 
lower  edge  in  the  ground. 

A  barn  that  is  open  underneath  makes 
a  harbor  for  rats.  It  is  better  to  have  it 
boarded  up.  The  stable  doors  in  this 
plan,  both  at  the  north  side  and  at  the 
south  side,  are  cut  in  two  so  the  upper 
half  may  be  opened  for  air  and  ventilation 
and  the  lower  one  remain  shut  to  keep  the 
animals  from  going  out  and  in.  The  plan 
is  as  simple  as  possible  to  make  a  barn  and 
still  have  it  look  well.  It  is  large  enough 
to  be  of  some  use  and  it  has  quite  a  loft 
for  hay.  A  cheap  little  barn  like  this  some- 
times answers  the  purpose  as  well  as  a 
more  expensive  one. 

It  is  a  barn  that  would  suit  the  average 
merchant  who  is  engaged  in  other  busi- 
ness besides  actual  store  keeping.  There 
are  many  such  men  who  have  a  pair  or 
more  of  horses  for  teaming  purposes  and 
who  want  more  stall  room  than  the  ordin- 
ary small  horse  stable  provides. 


ANOTHER  CHEAP  STABLE— A132 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

Plan  A 1 32   is   a   small   carriage   house      is  never  satisfied  with  it  and  it  injures  a 

which  mav'be  built  at  very  little  expense,     person's  property.     It  is  just  as  easy  to 

It  often  happens  that  a  man  wants  to  keep     build  an  attractive  stable,  one  that  is  well 


FRonj  E-LE-VAjion 


5iDe:  LutvAyion 


a  horse  for  his  own  driving  when  he  don't  proportioned   and   well   designed   because 

care  to  put  a  great  deal  of  expense  on  the  if  rightly  laid  out  it  costs  but  little  more 

stable.     It  is  a  mistake  in  such  cases  to  than  a  poor  looking  affair  that  has  a  cheap 

build  a  cheap  looking  affair  because  a  man  appearance.     It  is  all  right  to  build  cheap 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


if  nobody  finds  it  out,  but  we  often  see  mis- 
erable structures  that  give  away  the  own- 
er's ambition. 

Here  is  a  stable  that  costs  very  little  to 


in  an  expensive  structure  that  is  permitted 
to  go  to  seed. 

The  size  of  this  barn   is   eighteen   by 
twenty-four  feet.     Its  attractive   appear- 


Floor  Plah 
build  but  you  never  would  know  it,  especi- 
ally if  it  is  neatly  painted  and  nicely  kept 
both  inside  and  outside  as  it  should  be. 
There  is  sometimes  more  genuine  satisfac- 
tion in  a  cheap  building  well  cared  for  than 


ScconD  Floor. 

ance  is  due  more  to  the  shape  of  the  roof 
than  to  the  general  design  or  to  any  other 
one  feature.  All  village  barns  should  be 
placed  carefully  on  the  lot  to  look  well 
and  so  they  will  not  annoy  the  neighbors. 


SMALL  BARN  FOR  A  VILLAGE  LOT-  Am 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $3.50 
This  is  just  a  little  affair,  only  eighteen     three  or  four  courses  of  brick  laid  arcnnd 
by  twenty  feet,  but  it  is  big  enough  to     under  the  sills   the  building  will  stt   all 


hold  four  horses  and  leave  room  for  a 
wagon  on  the  storage  floor.  There  is  al- 
so loft  enough  to  mow  away  three  or  four 
tons  of  hay.  It  is  not  necessary  to  make 
a  very  deep  foundation  for  a  little  barn 
like  this.     If  the  ground   is  leveled   and 


right  probably  for  a    good    many    years. 
Many  small  barns  are  just  blocked  up  on 


212 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


stones  placed  at  the  corners  and  one  or 
two  places  along  the  sides  but  this  is  ob- 
jectionable because  it  makes  a  harbor  un- 


fiR&T  Tuoof? 


derneath  for  vermin.  The  foundation 
should  have  some  air  but  air  enough  will 
penetrate  through  the  chinks  between  the 
bricks  if  they  are  laid  without  mortar. 

The  construction  of  this  little  barn  is 
about  as  plain  and  simple  as  it  could  be 
and  still  have  it  look  right  when  finished. 
Nobody  likes  a  cheap  looking  building, 
but  no  one  objects  to  a  goodlooking  build- 


ing if  they  get  it  cheap.  The  problem  is 
how  to  build  what  will  be  satisfactory  in 
a  few  years'  time.  Sometimes  an  inexpen- 
sive building  may  be  shaded  with  trees  or 
screened  by  vines  in  such  a  way  as  to  give 


— 

^^^^3-4-x3&- 

"M 

•1 
« 

H  ' 

■ 

i  >i 

^ 

« 

^ 

«» 

« 

H^^^H 

•Seco/hd    Floof^ 

it  a  presentable  appearance  even  in  winter. 
An  evergreen  or  two  planted  along  the 
side,  if  there  is  plenty  of  room,  makes  a 
great  winter  addition  to  the  looks  of  a 
stable.  Grape  vines  usually  do  well  if  sus- 
pended by  wires  from  the  eaves,  but  grape 
vines  should  never  be  tacked  close  to  the 
side  of  a  building,  they  need  air  on  all 
sides. 


SERVICABLE  BARN— Ai  72 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


This  is  a  small  barn,  twenty  feet  by 
thirty-two  feet,  and  contains  a  carriage 
room  thirteen  feet  by  nineteen  feet,  which 
has  large  double  doors  in  front  that  will 
admit  the  largest  size  carriage,  a  wide  sin- 
gle door  to  the  horse  stable,  and  a  stair- 
way leading  to  the  upper  floor,  which  is 
for  the  storage  of  hay,  feed,  etc.,  and  a 
man's  room  if  it  is  desired. 

This  barn  contains  two  single  stalls  and 
a  box  stall.  Each  stall  has  a  direct  win- 
dow, which  is  high  enough  from  the  floor 


to  avoid  too  much  draft  on  the  horses 
and  it  protected  by  a  wire  mesh  guard. 

This  barn  has  been  designed  for  utility 
and  is  practical  in  every  way.  The  ar- 
rangement is  convenient,  and  it  is  of  a  neat 
appearance  on  the  outside.  If  painted  a 
stone  grey,  with  all  trimmings  and  cor- 
nice work  painted  pure  white,  it  would 
be  a  credit  to  any  neighborhood. 

The  carriage  room  has  a  cement  floor, 
which  is  slightly  pitched  from  all  direc- 
tions down  to  the  center,  where  it  is  pro- 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


vided  with  a  floor  drain.  This  will  admit 
the  carriages  to  be  washed  any  place  in 
the  room  without  injury  to  the  floor  or 


213 

with  hot  tar.  The  upper  floor  is  then  laid 
and  has  slightly  beveled  edges,  so  that 
when  laid  the  boards  will  fit  tightly  to- 
gether at  the  bottom  and  leaving  about  an 


_^ P^Aa/  Cf  aX?OUA/0  7'lOOJR 


the  side  walls  which  are  wainscoted  with 
Portland  cement  to  a  height  of  two  feet 
six  inches. 

All  the  walls  of  the  first  story  and  ceil- 
ing are  finished  with  clear  southern  yellow 
pine,  beaded  ceiling,  with  two  coats  of 
hard  oil.  This  makes  a  very  pretty  efifect 
for  a  stable  and  it  is  at  the  same  time  very 
serviceable.  The  stall  floors  are  of  double 
thickness  one  and  three-quarter  inch 
floors.  The  first  floor  is  tongued  and 
grooved,  tightly  laid,  and  then  covered 


eighth  of  an  inch  crack  on  the  top  surface, 
which  is  then  filled  with  hot  tar.  This 
construction  makes  a  very  durable  and 
sanitary  floor.  The  entire  stall  floor  is 
pitched  slightly  to  the  rear  to  a  cast  iron 
gutter  with  perforated  cover  and  connect- 
ed with  the  catch  basin  and  sewer.  The 
second  floor  has  ample  storage  room  for 
a  winter's  supply  of  hay  and  feed  for  three 
horses  and  is  of  strong  construction.  The 
roof  is  of  shingles  and  the  ventilator  gives 
the  building  a  complete  appearance. 


SEPARATE  HORSE  BARN— Ai 29 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

A  small,  convenient  horse  barn,  twen- 
ty-one by  thirty-two  feet  in  size,  with  con- 
siderable mow  room  is  shown  in  this  plan. 
Such  a  barn  is  very  convenient  on  some 
farms  where  for  good  reasons  it  is  found 
best  to  keep  horses  in  a  building  by  them- 
selves. 

There  are  a  good  many  farmers  who  ob- 
ject to  stabling  horses  in  the  same  build- 
ing with  other  animals,  because  they  don't 
seem  to  mix  just  right.  Horses  are  dif- 
ferent in  their  habits  from  many  other  do- 
mestic animals  and  itseems  rightandprop- 
er  to  give  them  a  building  to  themselves 
when  possible.  Besides,  it  often  is  more 
convenient  to  have  a  small  horse  barn 


near  the  house  to  save  steps  in  doing  the 
chores.  A  horse  barn  is  in  use  every  day 
in  the  year,  while  on  many  farms  the  cat- 
tle barns  are  not  used  much  in  summer. 
Then  again  a  horse  barn  properly  cared  for 
has  no  disagreeable  odor.  It  may  be  near 
the  house  without  causing  annoyance. 
Very  often  women  have  driving  horses 
of  their  own  and  they  like  to  look  after 
them  themselves  to  a  certain  extent,  and 
they  very  much  prefer  to  have  them  with- 
in easy  reach.  Also  in  case  of  fire  there 
is  a  further  advantage  in  having  farm 
buildings  separate. 

The  old   English  plan  was  to  scatter 
farm  buildings  far  enough  apart  to  pre- 


214 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


i3'6-y7N 

Floor   Plapi. 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


215 


vent  a  general  conflagration  in  case  one 
should  take  fire,  but  farm  labor  is  less  ex- 
pensive in  England  and  everybody  knows 
that  it  costs  more  to  care  for  animals 
housed  in  separate  buildings  because  of 
the  running  back  and  forth  and  because 
you  haven't  a  great  big  storage  room  all 
under  one  roof  where  feed  may  be  hoisted 
by  horse  power  and  returned  to  the  feed- 
ing floor  by  gravity. 

In  building  a  little  horse  barn  like  this 
it  is  better  to  put  down  good  foundation 
walls  reaching  below  frost.  By  making 
the  passageway  floor  about  three  inches 
higher  than  the  floor  behind  the  horses  an 
incline  will  be  provided  sufficient  to  keep 
the  feed  room  floor  dry  as  well  as  to  give 
the  necessary  drainage  slope  to  the  stand- 
ing floor  for  the  horses. 

Most  horsemen  prefer  to  floor  the  horse 
stalls  with  planks,  whether  the  bottom  is 


cemented  or  not.  This  may  be  done  be- 
fore the  partitions  are  put  in,  but  it  is  bet- 
ter to  plank  each  stall  separately.  In  eith- 
er case  select  planks  two  inches  thick  with 
tongue  and  groove  matching  and  lay  them 
with  coal  tar  between.  Give  the  floor  a 
slight  incline,  say  two  inches  fall  in  a  dis- 
tance of  eight  feet. 

It  is  much  better  in  a  barn  of  this  size, 
built  for  this  purpose,  to  cover  the  whole 
bottom  with  a  cement  floor,  cementing 
tight  up  against  the  walls  all  round  and 
leaving  a  slight  depression  behind  the 
horses;  a  sort  of  rounded  open  drain  not 
more  than  an  inch  deep  and  slope  the 
drain  to  the  manure  door  so  it  is  easy  to 
wash  the  stalls  and  sweep  the  water  out 
doors.  A  horse  stable  after  this  order  will 
be  found  very  convenient  on  any  farm 
whether  other  buildings  are  calculated  for 
horse  stabling  or  not. 


LITTLE  VILLAGE  STABLE— A135 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

The  little  barn,  eighteen  by  twenty-four     partitions  answers  the  purpose  very  well. 

fe^t,  as  shown  in  the  plans  and  elevations     To    keep    the    cold    from    blowing   down 

is  a  very  satisfactory  design  and  can  be     through  the  opening  a  light  door  with  a 


^1 

>X< 

>x< 

used  in  either  village  or  city.  It  is  not  ex- 
pensive, in  fact,  it  is  probably  as  cheap  as 
any  satisfactory  structure  could  be.  It 
is  better  not  to  take  up  room  in  such  a 
small  barn  in  building  a  stairway,  as  the 
upright  ladder  placed  against  one  of  the 


pulley,  cord  and  counter  weight  may  be 
made  to  shut  over  the  opening. 

If  there  is  a  boy  in  the  family  he  will 
find  a  way  to  rig  up  a  workbench  in  the 
front  corner  of  the  carriage  room  be- 
tween the  door  and  the  first  window.     It 


2l6 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


is  easy  to  encourage  boys  to  work  with 
tools,  especially  since  the  graded  schools 
have    taken    up    manual    training.      The 


/^//?ST   r/.oo/^  /=>/./?A/ 


schools  have  added  tone  to  the  work,  boys 
don't  consider  it  labor  now,  it  is  part  of 
their  education  and  it  is  an  important  part, 


too.  Truth  may  be  taught  in  a  more 
thorough  manner  through  mechanics  than 
by  any  other  means.  The  principle  of 
learning  a  thing  by  doing  it  is  just  as  val- 
uable now  as  it  was  in  Froebel's  time. 

As  a  general  thing  a  boy's  work  with 
tools  is  not  very  valuable  when  judged 
from  a  mechanical  standpoint  or  from  the 
amount  of  money  that  the  finished  product 
would  bring,  but  it  very  often  has  a  great 
educational  value  to  the  boy  that  is  little 
appreciated  by  the  older  members  of  the 
family.  The  fundamental  principles  of 
mechanics  permeate  all  nature.  Animals 
are  built  on  the  best  mechanical  principles. 
There  is  a  very  close  connection  between 
mechanics  and  nature.  Mechanics  point 
the  way  to  the  connecting  link  between 
natural  phenomena  and  commercial  suc- 
cess. Mechanics  and  mathematics  also 
are  very  closely  related,  but  the  natural 
live  boy  loves  the  one  and  hates  the  other. 
No  woman  wants  a  boy  tinkering  in  the 
house,  but  he  can  spend  many  happy  hours 
in  the  barn  without  disturbing  anyone. 


ENGLISH   CARRIAGE   HOUSE— A99 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


Small  artistic  stables  are  more  common 
in  England  than  they  are  in  the  United 
States,  possbily  because  the  country  is 
older  and  the  people  have  had  more  time 
to  develop  an  artistic  taste  in  such  mat- 
ters. An  English  gentleman  likes  to  keep 
his  cob  and  cart.  He  wants  a  good  smart 
turn-out  that  presents  a  respectable  if  not 
a  dashing  appearance;  then  he.  likes  to 
have  things  in  keeping  at  home,  so  he 
maintains  a  very  neat  carriage  house  and 
stable. 

Some  ot  these  carriages  houses  are  older 
than  the  proprietor  but  you  would  never 
know  it  to  look  at  them.  They  are  kept 
in  such  repair  and  they  nestle  amongst 
the  hedges  and  trees  in  such  a  pretty 
homelike  way  that  you  never  think  about 
their  age  or  intrinsic  value.  You  get  the 
impression  at  once  that  they  are  proper 
and  proper  goes  a  long  way  in  England. 
You  don't   wonder  that   thev  have  verv 


neat  stables  just  the  right  size  and  that 
they  appear  modestly  retiring  away  to  the 
back  end  of  the  pretty  garden.  It  just 
seems  to  come  natural.  Their  great,  great 
grandfather  or  their  double  great  uncle 
did  the  same  thing  long  before  they  were 
born  so  all  they  have  to  do  is  to  follow 
precedent. 

The  English  carriage  house  of  today 
was  built  after  hundreds  of  years  of  ex- 
perimenting until  the  location  of  every 
plank,  the  size  and  direction  of  every  door 
and  window  was  determined  without  any 
further  question  in  regard  to  the  possi- 
bility of  the  slightest  improvement.  It  is 
put  back  on  the  lot  in  the  furtherest  corner 
from  the  house.  The  approach  to  it  is 
through  an  arched  or  pillored  opening  in 
a  beautifully  well  kept  hedge.  The  drive- 
way is  not  straight.  English  gardeners 
keep  just  as  far  away  from  straight  lines 
as  they  possibly  can.     Somebody  discov- 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


217 


ered  in  the  time  cf  King  Alfred  that  curved  of  the  kinks  out  by  injecting  a  few  lib- 
paths  and  roadways  in  gardens  were  prop-  eral  doses  of  English  conservatism  so  that 
er.     Some  of  the  old  enthusiasts  went  a     now  after  a  good  many  generations  the 


gmmiixiiaxim^Mp^ 


cmuND  rioov  pzaa/ 


J5^Z.^a-^±^l 


step  too  far  and  got  them  crooked.  This  driveway  from  the  lane  through  the  back 
was  frowned  on  for  a  century  or  two  of  the  lot  to  the  stable  is  gently  curved, 
until  succeeding  generations  pulled  some     The  stable  also  is  partiallv  screened  from 


2l8 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


view  by  hedges,  vines  and  trees:  This  is 
proper  in  England,  it  is  good  sense  in  any 
other  country. 

The  difficulty  of  doing  things  just  right 
in  the  United  States  is  that  we  are  in  too 
much  of  a  hurry  to  get  satisfactory  re- 
sults. We  get  ready  to  build  a  stable  one 
day  and  have  the  material  on  the  ground 
before  breakfast  the  next  morning.  We 
haven't  decided  where  to  put  the  thing  so 
we  go  out  with  the  carpenter  harboring 
the  idea  that  his  time  is  going  on  and  that 
while  we  detain  him  he  is  not  engaged  in 
sawing  or  hammering.  For  economy  sake 
we  must  decide  instantly.  The  street  line 
is  guessed  at  and  the  barn  placed  just  a 
little  inside.  After  it  is  up  and  the  work- 
men have  gone  there  is  plenty  of  time  to 
think  it  over  and  regret  not  having  done 
some  things  differently,  but  the  barn  is  up 
now,  it  has  cost  a  little  more  than  we 
counted  on,  they  always  do  cost  more 
than  we  expect,  and  we  always  expect  they 
will  when  we  start  in,  but  at  anv  rate  we 


haven't  any  time  or  money  now  to  change 
things  or  even  level  off  the  ground  prop- 
erly. We  haven't  figured  on  a  curved 
driveway,  that  is  all  nonsense,  but  we  lay 
down  some  planks  to  keep  us  out  of  the 
mud.  The  finish  is  not  satisfactory  to  our- 
selves or  anybody  else,  but  we  have  a 
barn  and  we  have  secured  it  in  character- 
istic American  hustle  fashion  so  we  ought 
to  be  satisfied. 

The  plan  (A99)  shows  the  general  ar- 
rangement. There  is  a  room  partitioned 
off  in  the  gable  upstairs  for  the  man.  A 
stairway  going  up  from  the  carriage  room 
lands  in  this  upper  room.  The  feed  bins 
at  the  back  of  the  stalls  connect  with  the 
storage  bin  on  the  upper  floor  by  means 
of  spouts  as  indicated.  There  is  a  carriage 
room  that  is  large  enough  to  look  well  and 
to  accommodate  a  number  of  vehicles.  In- 
stead of  having  a  harness  room  there  are 
pegs  for  harness  in  a  corner  of  the  car- 
riage room  and  the  harness  is  covered  with 
curtains  hung  to  a  wire  overhead. 


SMALL  SUBURBAN  BARN— A2 15 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 
Showing  a  barn  erected  for  the  accom-     member    to    start    decay 
modation  of  two  horses  and  two  cows.   It 
is  26  feet  wide  by  34  feet  long  and  is  con- 
structed   of   frame    with    cement    plaster 
"rough  cast"  exterior    wall    and  stained 


on  account  of 
dampness  absorbed  from  the  ground,  and 
if  this  essential  member  of  the  structure 
is  rotted  away  the  balance  will  soon  fol- 
low.    Any  method  employed  in  the  con- 


m 
m 


m 

m 


shingle  roof.  It  is  set  on  a  foundation  of 
concrete  which  runs  one  foot  higher  than 
the  ground  floor,  thus  avoiding  all  dani])- 
ness  from  the  floor  and  ground  coming  in 
contact  with  the  wood  construction,  which 
would  otherwise  soon  decay. 

The  sill  of  a  barn  is  always  the  first 


i 
i 


ATOTTfi  rLr\/4TIOrJ 


struction  of  a  building  that  will  lengthen 
the  life  of  the  sills  is  worth  looking  into. 

The  roof  of  a  building  is  justly  consid- 
ered the  most  important  part ;  a^  building" 
can  be  built  without  much  of  a  foundation 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


219 


by  setting  it  on  posts  or  masonry  piers, 
and  for  a  few  years  perform  all  its  require- 


if  made  without  projection  beyond  the  ver- 
tical walls,  is  of  little  value,  as  it  will  al- 


zAyr  CLCioxioN 


n'^jT  r^zi/AT,^ 


ments,  but  the  roof  can  never  be  omitted; 
and  like  the  sill,  it  must  be  kept  in  good 


j'z.aas  ?='ZAM  ■ 


condition  or  the  building  will  soon  go  to 
ruin.  One  of  the  most  important  parts 
of  the  roof  is  the  gutter  or  cornice  which. 


low  the  rain  to  run  down  the  sides  of  the 
building  and  soon  make  the  walls  look 
weather  worn  and  streaky  from  the  dust 
which  is  washed  down  the  walls  with  the 
rain.  A  well  built  cornice  with  a  good  pro- 
jection not  only  avoids  this  trouble,  but 
also  protects  the  walls  from  the  hot  sum- 
mer sun  as  well  as  giving  architectural 
grace  to  the  design. 

The  outside  walls  of  this  building  are 
constructed  of  2  inch  by  4  inch  studding, 
16  inches  on  centers,  sheathed  on  the  out- 
side with  matched  sheathing,  then  covered 
with  waterproof  building  paper;  then  i 
inch  by  2  inch  furring  strips  placed  16  in- 
ches on  centers  (or  over  each  studding) ; 
then  lathed  and  cement  plastered.  This 
not  only  makes  a  very  durable  wall,  but 
is  warm  in  winter  and  cool  in  summer. 

The  carriage  room  and  cow  stalls  have 
cement  floors  and  the  box  stalls  are  of 
plank.  There  is  a  large  hay  room  on  the 
second  floor,  a  grain  bin  under  the  stair- 
way, and  a  harness  case  near  the  horse 
stalls. 


GOTHIC  BARN— A181 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 


If  the  horse  barn  is  near  the  house  and 
if  the  house  has  a  steep  roof  the  barn 
should  have  a  similar  roof  to  be  in  keep- 
ing. We  often  see  a  house  of  one  style 
and  the  other  buildings  nearby  built  on 
entirely  different  lines.  If  the  house  is 
new  and  the  other  buildings  old  there  is 
some  excuse  for  such  incongruity,  but  in 


most  cases  the  house  is  built  first  and  the 
barn  is  added  to  the  lot  some  3^ears  after- 
wards. In  the  meantime  some  architec- 
tural fad  has  taken  possession  of  the 
neighborhood  and  every  building  erected 
must  bear  the  marks  of  the  new  fashion. 
There  is  too  little  originality  in  build- 
ing.    It  is  much  easier  to  follow  the  local 


220 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


trend  than  it  is  to  hunt  out  a  plan  that  is 
suitable  for  individual  needs.  In  offering 
this  barn  plan  it  is  with  the  idea  that  there 
are  many  locations  where  the  style  of 
building  and  the  shape  of  the  roof  will 
match  the  house  and  other  surroundings 
better  than  any  other  plan. 

A  roof  like  this  is  not  economical  to 
build  if  the  owner  is  influenced  especially 
by  dollars  and  cents,  but  there  is  a  style 


some  way  so  it  is  not  obtrusive.  But  there 
is  something  wrong  with  a  man  who  will 
build  a  gothic  house  and  a  barn  with  a  flat 
roof  on  the  same  lot.  His  ideas  have  been 
dwarfed  in  some  direction.  His  property 
shows  it  because  it  does  not  balance  up 
right. 

A  lot  with  its  buildings  must  be  one 
homogenous  whole  or  it  shows  at  once 
that  it  has  not  been  arranged  rightly.  A 


DE>5/CA/  rOR  A^MALL  3APA^ 


0//Dr   £LJfVATION^ 
WITH  rOUR  ^TALL>S 


about  it  that  shows  up  well  for  the  amount 
of  money  it  costs.  There  is  a  great  deal 
in  appearance.  iWhen  we  have  things 
right  we  have  something  to  appreciate  for 
a  long  time  to  come.  If  the  house  has  a 
steep  roof  we  cannot  tolerate  a  barn  with 
a  main  roof  that  is,  say  one-third  pitch 
and  a  lean-to  that  is  even  less. 

If  the  mischief  has  been  done  conditions 
may  be  somewhat  improved  by  moving 
the  barn  back  well  out  of  the  way  and  hav- 
ing it  covered  with  vines  or  screened  in 


village  stable  may  be  made  an  ornament 
to  the  property  or  a  damage  to  the  owner 
and  an  eyesore  in  the  neighborhood. 
Neighbors  often  say  unkind  things  about 
the  owner  of  the  barn  on  the  next  lot.  Not 
always  on  account  of  the  looks  of  the 
thing;  they  may  be  aggravated  by  the  per- 
fume or  the  noise  of  the  chickens  when 
they  want  to  sleep  in  the  morning. 

A  good  many  folks  don't  like  neighbors 
and  it  is  generally  for  some  such  reason, 
but    neighbors    are    necessary    and    the 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


221 


neighbors  sometimes  build  barns  and  they 
don't  always  keep  them  nicely.  It  requires 
a  level-headed  man  to  lay  out  a  lot  to  the 
best  advantage  and  put  up  buildings  in 
such  a  way  that  no  one  can  find  fault  with 
them. 

There  is  something  about  the  arrange- 
ment of  this  barn  inside  that  will  appeal 


is  a  good  plan  to  have  some  little  cupboard 
like  this  that  may  be  locked  when  occasion 
requires  it.  In  almost  every  stable  medi- 
cines are  kept  and  they  should  be  out  of 
the  way  of  children.  It  is  a  splendid  pre- 
caution to  keep  medicine  bottles  locked 
up.  A  great  many  accidents  have  come 
just  from  carelessness  in  this  respect. 


l/^/KJ  WOM 


rEED  TiOOM 


r/R-^T   7=LOOR  PAA,'\/ 


^ECOA/O   T'AOOK 


to  every  orderly  person.  The  stalls  are 
right  for  convenience  both  in  handling  the 
horses  and  for  cleaning  the  stable.  The 
carriage  room  is  quite  large  and  conven- 
ient with  two  store  rooms,  one  for  gen- 
eral garden  tools  with  a  place  for  small 
work  bench  on  one  side,  a  necessity  in 
almost  any  village  lot  where  a  man  is  kept 
to  do  the  chores.  The  other  storeroom 
is  intended  for  harness.  There  is  also  a 
case  which  comes  in  very  handy  to  keep 
the  smaller  things  and  those  that  are  valu- 
able. The  glass  doors  slide  past  each 
other  and  may  be  easily  locked  shut.     It 


Every  village  stable  that  is  large  enough 
should  have  a  room  for  the  man ;  it  may 
not  be  necessary  at  all  times,  but  the  time 
will  probably  come  when  this  room  will 
be  found  very  useful.  In  this  case  it  is 
built  in  one  of  the  large  gables  where  the 
roof  is  steep  enough  to  lath  and  plaster 
right  on  the  rafters.  It  is  a  case  of  build- 
ing a  roof  and  a  side  at  the  same  time  and 
it  makes  a  saving  in  expense  in  one  way 
or  the  other.  You  either  don't  pay  for  the 
roof  or  you  don't  pay  for  the  side  of  the 
room. 


CEMENT  ROUGH  CAST  BARN—  A182 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 


A  carriage  house  and  stable  plastered 
on  the  outside  with  cement  mortar  with 
a  rough  cast  finish  is  shown  in  plan  (No. 
A182).     There  are  locations  where  a  base- 


ment for  laundry  purposes  under  the  house 
is  not  desirable.  This  plan  for  a  carriage 
house  with  a  laundry  attachment  was  de- 
signed especially  to  meet  such  cases.  In 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


New  Orleans,  La.,  such  carriage  houses  This  building  is  substantial  in  appear- 
are  quite  common.  There  is  a  great  deal  ance  and  the  manner  of  construction  is 
of  made  ground  and  the  sewers  are  not     very  satisfactory  for  a  warm  climate.  The 

1^ 


TVfcJAcr  zr^^^ATvo/v 


deep  enough  to  permit  much  underground  outside  cement  work  when  properly  put 
building,  so  that  basement  laundries  are  on  with  metal  lath  is  very  durable.  It 
not  common.     To  meet  just  such  condi-     looks  well  and  is  not  expensive. 


ffl 


m 


m 


f?r^7^    ir^z:KA77<>v 


tions  stables  with  laundry  rooms  just 
seem  to  fill  the  bill,  especially  when  they 
are  well  designed  and  built  to  suit  indi- 
vidual needs. 


The  usual  conveniences  found  in  small 
barns  arc  provided  in  this  building,  but  it 
is  a  little  more  elaborate  than  ordinary. 
The   box  stalls  are  especially   large  and 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


223 


roomy,  there  is  a  larger  feed  room  than 
is  customary  and  the  harness  room  is  a 
Httle  larger  than  we  usually  find  in  a  small 


which  not  only  furnishes  hot  water  for 
washing  and  for  stable  use,  but  to  warm 
the  stables  and  the  servants'  rooms  in  win- 


LETT  -JSCe  ZLev/iJ^/O^^ 


/T/Sf^J,!S£  £^^UA77iiV 


or  medium  sized  stable.  But  the  especial 
features  about  the  building  are  the  rooms 


ter.      This    laundry    room    is    also    large 
enough  to  hold  the  clothes  lines  in  stormy 


for  servants   with   an   entrance   separate     weather,  and  there  are  plenty  of  windows 

from  the  carriage  house,  and  the  laundry     for  light. 

with    its    hot    water    heating    apparatus,         Laundry  work  is  a  problem  in  the  south 


224 


pr.ACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


as  well  as  in  the  north.  Those  who  get 
along  with  the  least  friction  usually  have 
the  best  possible  conveniences  for  doing 
the   work.      Large    light    laundry    rooms 


The  building  is  large  enough  to  match  up 
well  with  a  good  big  residence  and  the  de- 
sign and  style  of  the  roof  shows  character 
enough  for  a  house,  in  fact  many  costly 


supplied  with  plenty  of  hot  water  and  fur- 
nished with  good  machinery  and  tubs  that 
are  rightly  placed  and  fitted  with  the  nec- 
essary faucets,  waste  pipes,  etc.,  offer  more 
inducements  to  do  good  work  and  less  oc- 
casion for  complaints  than  ordinary. 

There  are  many  advantages  in  having 
the  laundry  room  away  from  the  house. 
It  avoids  confusion  in  the  house  on  wash 
days  and  the  odors  of  dirty  steam  and 
soapy  water  are  done  away  with. 

For  a  pretentious  property  a  stable 
building  of  this  design  and  size  looks  well. 


.^BTo/^  neon^fit}  noo?^ 


houses  are  built  with  roofs  that  are  less 
attractive  than  this  one.  A  carriage  house 
like  this  is  not  complete  without  a  good 
wide  drive  leading  to  it.  This  design  re- 
quires a  smooth  pavement  in  front  of  the 
building  one-third  wider  than  the  building 
itself.  It  should  have  a  pretentious  ap- 
proach to  give  it  proper  setting.  Some- 
times an  inferior  building  can  be  given  a 
royal  appearance  by  an  elaborate  entrance. 
A  driveway  to  the  stable  is  part  of  the  en- 
trance. In  this  plan  the  inside  is  right, 
the  outside  looks  well. 


HORSE  AND  COW  HOUSE— A131 

Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 

A  small  carriage  house  with  stable  room     a  good  sized  lot  in  the  city  or  village.  A 

for  two  horses  or  a  horse  and  a  cow  is  a     horse  stall   makes  a  splendid  stall   for  3 

very  convenient  thing  when  a  person  has     cow,  better  than  what   is   ordinarily  de- 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


2Z5 


signed  for  a  cow  stall  because  there  is 
more  room  and  it  gives  more  comfort.  A 
cow  appreciates  comfort    and    will    give 


which  reach'  s  from  the  loft  to  the  manger 
below  with  openings  for  both  stalls,  which 
is  a  very  convenient  arrangement  and  is 


/^/7o/vr  cLCir/rr/Ofj 


enough  more  milk  to  pay  for  it.  Of  course 
a  cow  in  a  horse  stall  needs  plenty  of  bed- 
ding, but  where  only  one  cow  is  kept  it 
is  easy  enough  to  furnish  all  the  litter 
necessary. 
There  are  a  good  many  designs  for  small 


3/OC  CLEir/ir/ON 

worth  a  good  deal  just  to  keep  the  hay 
dust  and  chaff  out  of  the  horse's  mane  and 
fore  top.  It  also  leaves  the  feed  boxes  in 
the  corner  of  the  mangers  for  grain  and 
other  feeds. 

A  carriage  house  like  this  may  have  a 


-/t'-o' -4 -  —  ly'-o"- 

rtooff ^  /=iflN 

carriage  houses,  some  of  which  are  decid- 
edly homely.  A  good  many  of  the  fancy 
buildings  are  too  expensive.  Here  is  a 
comparatively  cheap  structure,  but  it  is 
all  right  for  looks  and  it  is  a  convenient 
stable  to  do  work  in.  There  is  a  hay  chute 


S£COA/£?    FLOOR 

plank  floor  or  the  floor  may  be  left  out  en- 
tierly  and  the  ground  leveled  up  with  cin- 
ders except  the  stalls  and  the  very  best 
stall  floor  is  made  of  stiff  clay  pounded 
in  wet.  Some  of  the  most  successful 
horsemen  prefer  a  clay  bottomed  stall. 

CARRIAGE  HOUSE  AND  STABLE— A127 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 
The  illustration  on  next  page  shows  a     feet  on  the  ground  and  fourteen  feet  high 
carriage  house  and  stable  twenty  by  thirty     to  the  plates.    The  ceiling  is  eight  feet  six 


226 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


inches  which  is  about  as  low  as  you  can 
have  a  ceiling  in  a  carriage  house  because 


really  requires  about  three  times  as  much 
room  to  stable  horses  this  wav. 


FRonj  E-LE-VAyiori. 


3oe' 


you  must  have  room  enough  for  a  top 
buggy.  For  this  reason  the  doorway  must 
be  about  the  same  height. 

The  internal  arrangement  of  this  stable 
is  different  from  most  small  carriage 
houses.  There  is  a  box  stall  about  nine 
feet  square.  It  is  difficult  to  plan  a  decent 
sized  box  stall  in  a  small  stable.  They 
run  into  room  too  fast.  Nothing  looks 
so  comfortable  for  a  good  horse  as  a  roomy 
box  stall.  If  the  horses  had  their  say  about 
it  there  would  be  more  box  stalls,  but  it 


Carriacc  Roon 


'Box  S^Aki.. 


Floor   Furp*. 


HORSE  SHED— Ai 2 1 


On  farms  where  a  number  of  brood 
mares  are  kept  and  colts  of  all  ages  coming 
along,  it  is  much  better  to  have  a  separate 
shed  for  winter  feeding  for  the  colts  than 


let  them  run  at  large  among  the  cattle. 
One  colt  might  not  do  much  damage  in 
the  general  barnyard,  but  colts  are  mis- 
chievous and  one  teaches  another. 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


227 


A  light  shed  may  be  built  on  this  plan,  thoroughly  banked  up  in  the  fall  to  keep 
which  is  iifteen  by  thirty-four  feet,  at  very  out  the  cold  winds.  In  banking  up  a  shed 
little  expense.  It  should  front  on  the  stack     like  this  set  a  board  all  around  the  outside 


/-7/r/v6£r/f 


Y 3y-i> 

yard  and  face  the  south  if  possible.  For  to  keep  the  earth  away  from  the  building 
economy  it  is  placed  on  cedar  posts  let  in  proper.  Fit  the  board  nicely  so  there  are 
the  ground  below  frost,  but  it  should  be     no  chinks  to  let  in  the  cold  draft. 

WELL   PLANNED   HORSE   BARN— A171 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $10.00 

To  make  this  article  more  comprehen-  essary  feed  bins,  harness  room,  wash 
sive  to  those  interested  in  barn  construe-  room,  grain  room,  carriage  room,  storage 
tion  we  show  an    exact    reproduction  of     rooms, etc. 


A,<j??TM      E'LC^/AT/OAy     OF 


the  architectural    plans    after  which  the 
building  was  erected. 

This  building  is  designed  to  accommo- 
date fourteen  horses,  having  ten  sing'e 
stalls  and  four  box  stalls,  and  all  the  nec- 


The  carriage  room,  which  is  30  by  36 
feet  clear  span  without  posts,  is  on  the 
east  end  and  has  an  entrance  of  large 
double  sliding  doors,  and  also  a  large  slid- 
ing door  to  the  horse  stable.  The  carriage 


228 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


room  floor  contains  a  carriage  wash  near 
its  center  and  overhead  is  a  large  trap 
door,  so  any  vehicles  which  are  out  of  use 


which  are  connected  with  spouts  from  the 
larger  bins  on  the  upper  floor. 

The  box  stalls  have  sliding  doors  with 


can  be  hoisted  up  to  the  floor  above  for 
storage.  The  carriage  room  also  has  di- 
rect doors  to  the  harness  washing  room. 


a  wire  grill  in  the  top  half,  and  the  parti- 
tions between  all  stalls  have  wire  grills 
running  up  to  a  height  of  about  7  feet 


fjiTOda     ^iccr/cvv 


Q^-'C'T'uD'MAt      Jd^'"'0'^'     O^ 


The  harness  room  is  equipped  with  dust 
proof  cases  for  the  harness,  blankets,  etc., 
and  the  washing  room  contains  a  sink 
with  soft  water  supply  and  all  the  neces- 
sary fixtures  required  for  the  washing  and 
repairing  of  the  harness. 

The  stable  room  contains  a  watering 
trough,  a  store  room  for  tools,  shovels, 
etc.,  and  a  grain  room  for  the  mixing  of 
feed,    and    which    has    small    grain    bins 


above  the  floor,  thus  obtining  a  free  cir- 
culation of  light  and  air.  Each  stall  is 
equipped  with  a  window  that  is  hinged 
on  top  and  swinging  out.  This  provides 
each  animal  with  fresh  air  and  a  direct 
draft  upon  the  animal  is  avoided  by  these 
windows  being  placed  up  near  the  ceiling, 
also  being  covered  with  a  wire  screen  for 
protection.  All  stalls  have  cast  iron  feed 
boxes,  salt  boxes  and  wrought  iron  hay 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


229 


racks  connected  directly  with  hay  chutes  provided  with  trap  doors  by  which  the 

from  the  hay  room  above.     All  stall  floors  flow  of  air  can  be  regulated  as  desired, 

are  slightly  sloped  to  the  back  and  there  and  this  shaft  at  the  same  time  serving  for 

connected  with  a  cast  iron  drain  trough  a  hay  and  bedding  chute. 


running  the  full  length  of  and  on  each  side 
of  the  driveway. 

In  the  ceiling  of  this  driveway  is  a  large 


The  second  story  is  used  for  the  storage 
of  hay,  bedding,  grain  and  feed,  and  the 
room  above  the  carriage  room  is  partition- 


'E!EI"""13ir 


"SEI 


-Fin       f^tt' 


ir- 


-  ---- >> 


>• : ^ 


/  / 


-V 


,[^- — v^.,-,gi-.:^i 


:^ 


v.. 


trap  door  for  throwing  down  hay  and  bed- 
ding, and  also  for  the  hoisting  of  hay  from 
the  hay  wagon  in  stormy  weather. 

One  of  the  roof  ventilators  has  a  shaft 
running  down  to  the  ceiling  of  the  horse 
stable  for  ventilation,  and  is  at  this  ceiling 


ed  ofif  into  a  dust-proof  room  for  the  stor- 
age of  vehicles,  etc. 

This  building  is  built  on  a  foundation  of 
stone  piers,  so  as  to  admit  a  free  circula- 
tion of  air  under  the  floor  and  to  prevent 
the  floor  from  becoming  cold  in  the  horse 


230 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


stable  it  is  built,  as  will  be  seen  in  the 
detail  above  the  longitudinal  section,  by 
first  resting  the  joists  upon  the  sills,  then 
floored  with  a  matched  floor  i  inch  thick, 
which  is  covered  with  a  heavy  building 
paper,  then  by  2  by  2  inch  strips  nailed 
one  over  each  joist.  The  space  between 
these  strips  is  filled  with  mineral  wool, 
then  this  entire  surface  is  floored  with  a 
strong  floor  iH  inches  thick,  and  on  this 
are  laid  strips  of  various  thickness  to  re- 
ceive and  form  a  pitch  to  the  stall  floors. 
On  the  sills  over  each  stone  pier  is  set  a 
6  by  8  inch  post  for  the  support  of  the  sec- 
ond story  floor  and  roof.  These  posts  run 
up  to  the  plate,  which  is  a  6  by  8  inch  tim- 
ber, and  at  the  second  story  joist  level 
there  is  a  6  by  8  inch  timber  notched  in 


between  these  posts  for  the  bearing  plate 
of  the  second  floor  joist.  All  these  timbers 
are  braced  at  all  intersections  with  4  by 
6  inch  braces.  The  outside  walls  are  form- 
ed by  filling  in  between  these  bents  with 
2  b)'  6  inch  studding  spaced  2  feet  on  cen- 
ters and  well  spiked  to  the  floor  joist,  sills 
and  plates.  The  inside  surface  of  these 
studding  are  covered  with  heavy  building 
paper,  then  ceiled  with  matched  flooring, 
and  the  outside  surface  of  studding  is  also 
covered  with  paper  and  then  sided  with 
drop  siding.  The  roof  is  of  cedar  shingles 
dipped  in  moss-green  creosote  stain,  which 
in  contrast  with  the  white  painted  walls, 
makes  a  very  artistic  effect.  The  interior 
of  the  carriage  room  is  finished  in  yel- 
low pine  beaded  ceiling. 


RESIDENCE  BARN— A2 16 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $15.00 
A  residence  barn  to  accommodate  three     room  is  of  good  proportions  and  has  a 
vehicles  and  three  horses.     The  carriage     wide  door  at  front  and  rear.     The  har- 


RV.;nwav 


Wash  Rack- 


Harness  Pm. 

12.feXb'6" 


Carriage  Room 


^JlSS^ 


Stall 

J'OXIO^O" 


Stall 

ff'O'XiO'O 


Passage 


MansRm. 
avxioo" 


Box  Stall 

II  0X100" 


RuriWAY 


ness  room  and  man's  room  are  of  good 
size,  and  conveniently  located. 

The  construction  of  this  barn  is  of  the 
balloon  frame;  there  is  a  concrete  found- 
ation.    The  ground  floor  is  of  cement  and 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


231 


all  rooms  are  cement  wainscoted  up  to  the 
window  sills,  making  the  walls  water- 
proof. 

The  exterior  design  is  of  a  modern 
style  with  a  Japanese  style  of  roof  which 
gives  the  building  a  very  odd  but  charm- 
ing artistic  appearance. 

There  are  so  many  windows  in  this  sta- 
ble that  it  is  very  light  inside  and  they 
give  it  an  expensive  look  outside.  It  is 
not  generally  recognized  that  windows  are 
about  as  cheap  nowadays  as  any  other  part 
of  the  building.  As  soon  as  people  gen- 
erally grasp  this  idea  all  farm  buildings 
will  be  made  lighter,  more  sanitary  and 
more  cheerful. 

The  side  walls  are  rough  cast  cement 
up  to  the  windows  and  the  balance  of  ex- 
terior vertical  walls  sided.  The  roof  is 
of  moss  green  stained  shingle,  which  in 


connection  with  the  white  siding,  grey 
cement  and  brown  stained  trimmings, 
makes  a  very  striking  exterior  that  would 
do  credit  to  any  neighborhood  where  the 
commonplace  board-and-batten  barn 
would  be  objectionable.  This  barn, 
though  somewhat  artistic  in  its  outline, 
can  be  built  at  a  reasonable  price,  and  con- 
tains no  work  that  cannot  be  executed 
with  materials  that  can  be  bought  from 
the  stock  of  the  lumberyard. 

The  interior  makes  very  good  provision 
for  two  or  for  three  horses,  there  being 
two  single  stalls  and  a  large  box  stall.  The 
man's  room  is  well  finished  and  is  very 
pleasant.  The  harness  room  is  large  and 
nicely  lighted.  There  is  a  large  conven- 
ient loft  for  hay  and  grain  storage.  The 
entire  barn  is  exceptionally  well  lighted 
and  ventilated. 


SMALL  LIVERY  BARN— Ai  38 


For  a  village  or  a  small  city  this  plan  of- 
fers a  comparatively  cheap  building  that 


^/roMr   CLcr^noM 


siO£    £i.£ri/wr/o/v 


may  be  used  to  advantage  by  a  man  who 
keeps  four  or  five  horses  for  hire.  Usually 
in  such  cases  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  a 
great  deal  of  feed  storage  room  because 
the  hay  is  baled  and  sometimes  the  straw 
comes  in  bales.  A  good  harness  room  is 
necessary  and  it  often  happens  that  the 
hostler  wants  to  sleep  in  the  stable  and 
this  room,  ten  by  fifteen  feet,  is  sufficient 
for  such  purposes. 

The  problem  in  all  livery  stables  is  how 
to  take  care  of  the  different  rigs.  There 
are  cutters  and  sleighs  to  be  taken  care  of 
nine  or  ten  months  in  the  year,  when  they 
are  not  in  use,  and  there  are  wagons  in  the 
way  almost  all  the  time.  Storage  room  is 
expensive  and  sometimes  ground  room  is 
an  object. 

Too  often  public  stables  are  littered 
around  outside  of  the  building  with  old 
trash  that  should  be  sold  for  junk  or 
burned  up.  Such  conditions  are  more  no- 
ticeable in  the  smaller  places.  But  pride 
in  keeping  up  one's  property  is  just  as  val- 
uable and  just  as  necessary  in  a  village  as 
in  the  city.  Perhaps  liverymen  and  black- 
smiths are  a  little  more  careless  in  this  re- 
spect than  any  other  class  of  citizens.  Why 


232 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


this  should  be  so  is  a  mystery.     It  costs     place  for  everything  and  everything  in  its 
nothing  to  be  neat  and  neatness  attracts     place  is  a  suggestion  which  applies  to  liv- 


tt  0  0 


D/?//^^A^y^y 


/^Loo/?    pi/7/v  or  ^n/iLL   L/ys/^y 


trade  in  these  lines  as  well  as  others.  From     erymen 
general  observation  it  would  seem  that  a     country. 


and    blacksmiths    all    over    the 


LIVERY  STABLE— A2 1 8 


This  stable  is  of  frame  construction, 
built  on  concrete  foundation  and  has  con- 
crete floor  throughout  the  entire  ground 
floor  area.  The  front  building,  contain- 
ing the  office,  carriage  room,  wash  room, 
etc.,  is  separated  from  the  building  con- 
taining the  horses  by  a  cement  fire-proof 
wall  and  fire-proof  door.  The  entire  ex- 
terior wall  surface  of  building  is  covered 
with  galvanized  iron  siding  and  a  corru- 
gated iron  roof,  making  the  exterior  prac- 
tically proof  against  fire.  The  boiler  room 
has  brick  walls,  fire-proof  doors  and  ce- 
ment floor  and  ceiling.  With  these  pre- 
cautions against  fire,  electric  light  being 


used  for  illumination,  the  building  is  reas- 
onably safe,  although  built  with  wood 
walls. 

The  stable  contains  thirty  stalls,  one  of 
which  is  a  box  stall  for  sick  horses,  with 
double  doors  from  the  yard  and  single 
door  from  driveway.  All  stalls  have  re- 
movable plank  floors  laid  on  the  cement 
floors,  with  slight  pitch  toward  the  rear  of 
stalls.  The  stall  partitions  are  of  match- 
ed plank,  four  feet  high  and  have  an  iron 
guard  on  top,  making  top  of  guard  seven 
feet  above  floor.  Each  stall  is  provided 
with  a  hay  manger  and  feed  box.  There 
is  a  hay  chute  of  galvanized  iron  between 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


233 


each  two  stalls,  this    hay    chute  running 
from  second  story  floor  to  top  of  hay  man- 


filled  with  at  least  four  inches  of  cement 
to  prevent  the  horses  from  biting  into  the 


■  ■■Hi 


I 


m 


7^/^(D/^  ~r   7^/^e:  \yx\cr  /o  /w 


ger;  is  built  larger  at  the  bottom  than  at 
the  top  to  prevent  hay  from  clogging. 
The  bottom  of  mangers  and  feed  boxes  are 


planks,  and  the  front  edge  of  the  manger 
is  covered  with  Strap  iron  fastened  with 
counter-sunk  screws. 


234 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


The  carriage  room  has  a  clear  22  foot 
span  and  is  50  feet  long.  At  the  rear  it 
contains  a  vehicle  hoist  or  elevator  to  ad- 
ditional storage  room  and  paint  shop,  lo- 
cated at  the  rear  end  of  second  floor  over 
carriage  room.  The  front  end  of  second 
floor  facing  the  street,  contains  a  comfort- 


able flat,  consisting  of  a  parlor,  living 
room,  dining  room,  pantry,  kitchen,  bath- 
room and  three  bed  rooms  of  good  size,  all 
rooms  having  outside  windows  and  good 
ventilation.  The  second  story  over  the 
horse  stable  contains  a  large  hay  room,  bed- 
ding room,  storage  room,  and  grain  bins. 


PITCH  OF  BARN  ROOFS— A228 


One-third  pitch  means  that  the  peak  of 
a  roof  is  about  one-third  of  the  width  of 
the  building  higher  than  the  plates,  that  is 
if  the  building  is  thirty  feet  wide  the  peak 
has  an  elevation  of  9  feet,  scale  measure 
above  the  plates.  Half-pitch  would  be 
half  the  diameter  higher,  or  fifteen  feet 
above  the  plates,  while  full  pitch  would  be 
26  feet  scale  measure. 

What  interests  a  farmer  most  in  the 
pitch  of  a  barn  roof  is  the  storage  capacity 
as  compared  with  the  expense.  Any  pitch 
from  one-third  up  is  a  good  one  so  far  as 
service  and  lasting  qualities  go.  A  half- 
pitch  might  last  a  little  longer  than  a  third- 
pitch,  but  there  is  not  enough  difference 
to  pay  for  the  extra  cost.  Full  pitch  is 
used  only  for  architectural  eflfect  except 
in  cases  of  gambrel  roofs  when  half  pitch 
or  even  steeper  is  often  used  for  the  lower 
portion  between  the  gambrel  and  the 
eaves. 

In  gambrel  roofs  the  upper  section  often 
is  as  flat  as  one-fourth  pitch  while  the  dis- 
tance from  the  curb  to  the  eaves  is  some- 
times very  steep  and  both  sections  are 
short. 

Some  farmers  claim  that  it  is  just  about 
as  cheap  to  carry  the  sides  of  a  barn  a  few 
feet  higher  and  use  a  plain  one-third  pitch 
roof  while  others  feel  that  it  is  a  great  deal 
better  to  set  the  plates  at  the  usual  height  " 
and  carry  the  roof  up  in  gambrel  roof  form. 

It  depends  somewhat  on  the  size  of  the 
building  and  proportions,  and  the  length 
of  material  that  can  be  secured.    Twelve 


and  sixteen  foot  boarding  are  the  com- 
monest lengths.  The  higher  you  go  above 
the  plates  the  more  expensive  is  the  build- 
ing in  proportion,  because  scaffolding 
must  be  higher  and  all  work  above  a  cer- 
tain height  costs  more.  The  work  on  the 
roof  is  a  little  different  because  the  roof  is 


its  own  scaffold.  Most  people  like  the 
looks  of  a  gambrel  roof  on  a  barn,  and 
looks  count  for  a  good  deal  after  the  build- 
ing is  finished. 


Feed  Lots  and  Cattle  Sheds 


FEED  LOTS  FOR  BEEF  CATTLE— A184 


WHERE  cattle  are  fed  in  large  numbers 
it  pays  and  pays  well  to  fit  up  prop- 
erly for  the  business.  In  the  corn  belt,  buy- 
ing thrifty  young  cattle  and  finishing 
them  for  the  market,  is  a  splendid  business 
in  the  hands  of  men  who  understand  how 
to  buy,  how  to  feed  and  how  to  sell.  The 
old  fashioned  way  of  putting  a  fence 
around  a  mud-hole  and  confining  a  bunch 
of  cattle  in  the  mire  for  weeks  or  months 
at  a  time  ceased  to  be  profitable  long  ago, 
but  unfortunately  some  men  haven't  found 
it  out.  Considerable  engineering  ability 
is  required  to  plan  and  construct  feed  lots 
for  the  accommodation  of  large  numbers 
of  cattle  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the  ani- 
mals comfortable  and  to  economize  labor. 

Plan  (A  184)  has  received  very  careful 
attention  in  this  respect.  The  storage  barn 
and  silos  are  set  on  a  ridge  of  ground  slop- 
ing preferably  to  the  southwest.  The  feed 
lots,  thirty-two  by  seventy-two  feet  in 
size,  including  the  shed,  are  fenced  off  one 
after  another  as  many  as  needed.  Two 
yards  only  are  shown  in  the  drawings  be- 
cause no  matter  how  many  you  have  each 
pair  of  two  would  be  a  repetition  of  this 
pair.  The  lots  might  be  extended  a  quar- 
ter of  mile  holding  the  same  order. 

It  works  better  if  the  ground  is  about 
eight  feet  lower  for  the  feed  lots  than  it 
is  for  the  storage  barn  and  silos  as  this 
gives  a  chance  to  run  the  track  from  the 
floor  of  the  storage  barn  over  the  heads 


of  the  cattle  high  enough  to  leave  a  pas- 
sageway under  for  a  pair  of  horses  and  a 
manure  spreader.  Eight  feet  in  the  clear 
is  little  enough  and  it  is  high  enough  be- 
cause straw  as  well  as  feed  will  be  brought 
to  each  lot  by  a  car  on  the  overhead  track. 
The  car  is  made  large  for  this  purpose,  be- 
ing four  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  six  feet 
wide  at  the  top,  four  feet  high  and  eight 
feet  long.  When  filled  with  silage  it  will 
make  quite  a  load,  but  one  man  can  move 
it  if  the  wheels  are  large  and  kept  well 
oiled  and  if  the  truck  is  level  and  true. 
Some  feeding  yards  have  an  incline  track, 
but  this  is  not  necessary,  in  fact  it  is  ob- 
jectionable because  the  car  will  never  stay 
where  you  want  it  and  it  is  uphill  work 
getting  it  back  to  be  refilled.  Make  the 
track  absolutely  dead  level  and  perfectly 
straight.  Two  by  fours  plated  on  top  with 
two  inch  band  iron  that  has  been  hammer- 
ed straight  and  true  will  answer  very  well 
but  the  two  by  fours  must  be  well  sup- 
ported and  thoroughly  spiked  in  place.  In 
building  the  track  remember  that  you 
are  trying  to  save  time  and  labor  at  every 
feeding  period  for  a  number  of  years  to 
come.  You  want  the  track  so  true  and 
the  car  wheels  to  fit  so  perfectly  that  the 
car  will  run  along  without  much  friction 
after  getting  started. 

One  man  with  a  rig  like  this  that  works 
right  should  feed  a  large  bunch  of  cattle 
because  he  can  take  advautage  of  his  work. 


236 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


CORN 


LJ 
SECTION   OF 

CRIB     FEEDER 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


237 


I  I 
U 


CROJSS       SECTION 
or    5HED 


?T 

1 

/ 

<^ 

1 

^^ 

1 

5HEATHIMG  ^^^ 

^ 

<a    -" 

itt  TAVprn      ^ 

"*    J 

;                     / 

1 

/ 

1 

y 

\ 

^ 

/j''  o" 


238 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


In  the  first  place  he  has  got  a  car  big 
enough  to  hold  something.  He  runs  a 
chute  from  the  silo  to  the  car  which  saves 
forking  the  silage  up  from  the  floor  until 
the  silo  is  nearly  empty.  The  sides  of  the 
car  are  hinged  so  they  drop  down  over  the 
feeding  racks  in  the  yards.  He  loads  the 
car  quickly  and  easily  and  a  good  deal  of 
the  stufif  unloads  itself.  The  track  is  made 


storage  barn  and  running  across  the  ends 
of  the  feeding  pens  down  the  whole  length 
of  the  alley  to  an  outlet  in  the  field  be- 
yond. The  brick  pavement  in  each  feed 
lot  slopes  to  the  center  to  lead  the  water 
to  the  tile  drain  underneath  which  con- 
nects with  the  trunk  line  of  tile  near  the 
fence  in  the  alley.  This  main  drain  in- 
creases in  size  to  accommodate  the  extra 


\^ ^\o" N 

L  U 

CR05S     SECTION 
OT      C/\R 

in  sixteen  foot  sections,  as  the  yards  are 
thirty-two  feet  wide  the  tracks  have  one 
support  in  the  middle  of  the  yard.  The 
other  supports  form  part  of  the  fences  be- 
tween the  yards. 

In  laying  out  the  yards  the  problem  of 
drainage  must  be  worked  out  first.  It  is 
impossible  to  have  the  yards  dry  unless 
ample  provision  is  made  for  taking  care 
of  the  rainfall.  A  drain  tile  is  marked  on 
the  plan  leading  from  the  corner  of  the 


CROSS  sicrioK 

or     CORN     CRIB 

drainage  as  it  proceeds  past  the  tlifferent 
pens. 

An  open  shed  twelve  by  thirty-two  feet 
occupies  one  end  of  each  yard.  This  shed 
is  not  paved  but  is  kept  well  bedded.  All 
the  rest  of  the  yard  is  paved  with  brick 
laid  flat  on  a  cinder  bed. 

An  additional  drain  tile  runs  from  each 
water  tank  to  the  trunk  tile  line  to  take 
care  of  any  overflow  from  the  tank.  In 
some  locations  another  tile  drain  will  be 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


239 


necessary  at  the  back  of  the  shed  because 
the  ground  must  be  kept  dry. 

Water  Supply. 

Good  fresh  water  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  supply  the  needs  of  the  cattle  in  these 
feed  lots  is  quite  a  problem  in  itself.  The 
water  must  be  good  and  there  must  be 
plenty  of  it.  It  must  also  be  supplied  under 
pressure  and  carried  to  each  water  tank  in 
pipes  placed  under  ground  below  frost. 
There  must  be  a  valve  placed  in  each  pipe 
running  to  each  water  tank  so  constructed 
that  it  won't  freeze.  The  stems  from  these 
valves  should  be  extended  up  to  the  over- 
head track  so  a  man  can  walk  from  one  end 
of  the  feeding  yards  to  the  other  and  reg- 
ulate the  water  easily  and  quickly. 

Generally  the  water  must  be  supplied 
by  a  windmill  and  a  reservoir  of  some 
kind.  A  cement  basin  in  a  nearby  hillside 
is  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  because 
when  once  made  it  is  permanent.  The 
source  must  be  sufficient  to  supply  it  and 
the  windmill  or  other  power  which  does 
the  pumping  must  be  powerful  enough  to 
do  the  work  at  all  times.  You  cannot  af- 
ford to  take  chances  on  a  water  famine 
with  several  hundreds  of  feeding  cattle  on 
your  hands. 

Storage  Barn. 

In  the  plan  not  much  attention  is  paid 
to  the  storage  barn  except  that  it  shows 
the  most  convenient  location.  Every  feed- 
er must  plan  storage  to  suit  his  way  of  do- 
ing business.  If  he  has  a  large  farm  on 
which  he  grows  alfalfa,  grain  and  other 
crops  that  make  large  quantities  of  rough- 
age he  must  provide  an  extensive  storage 
barn  with  appliances  to  get  the  stuff  in 
and  out  again  when  needed  for  feeding. 

Generally  speaking  the  barn  should  be 
large  and  high.  The  capacity  of  a  storage 
barn  is  increased  by  additional  height  at 
a  very  rapid  ratio  because  all  kinds  of  loose 
fodder  packs  very  close  in  the  bottom  and 
lies  very  loose  at  the  top.  A  deep  bay  may 
be  filled  to  the  peak  with  hay  at  haying 
time  and  settle  sufficiently  to  hold  a  large 
quantity  of  sheaf  wheat  a  few  weeks  later, 
but  a  shallow  mow  don't  hold  much  at  any 


time.     It  don't  have  the  weight  sufficient 
to  pack  it. 

There  will,  of  course,  be  a  good  solid 
floor  over  the  car  track  and  there  will  be 
chutes  or  openings  to  let  the  hay  down  di- 
rectly into  the  car  and  there  will  be  a  lad- 
der to  let  a  man  down  into  the  car  to  tramp 
it  full.  The  same  horse  fork  that  is  used 
to  put  the  fodder  in  will  move  the  stuff 
from  the  other  parts  of  the  barn  to  this 
floor  as  it  is  needed. 

Brick  Pavement. 

There  is  only  one  way  to  have  a  feeding 
lot  clean  and  that  is  to  pave  it.  There  are 
different  kinds  of  pavements  more  or  less 
virtuous  but  the  cheapest  satisfactory  bot- 
tom for  a  feeding  yard  is  brick  laid  on  a 
foundation  of  sand  and  cinders.  The  cin- 
ders help  drainage  and  prevent  the  bricks 
heaving  with  the  frost.  It  is  easier  to  lay 
the  bricks  level  and  smooth  if  an  inch  or 
two  of  sharp  sand  is  scattered  over  the  top 
of  the  cinders.  The  sand  holds  the  bricks 
in  place  and  a  little  sand  does  not  prevent 
the  water  from  getting  away. 

A  great  deal  depends  on  the  foundation. 
The  ground  should  be  graded  with  the 
proper  slope  to  the  center  gutter.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  have  an  opening  in  the  bricks, 
the  cracks  between  the  bricks  are  suffici- 
ent, but  a  line  of  tile  should  be  carefully 
laid  underneath  deep  enough  to  be  out  of 
the  way  of  frost.  Frost  does  not  penetrate 
deep  in  a  feeding  yard  under  a  brick  pave- 
ment. During  some  winters  the  ground 
won't  freeze.  There  is  more  or  less  litter 
scattered  about  that  prevents  hard  freez- 
ing. Probably  if  the  tile  starts  a  foot  be- 
low the  brick  at  the  shed  end  and  deepens 
to  two  and  one-half  feet  where  it  joins  the 
trunk  tile  in  the  alley  the  drain  will  give 
no  trouble. 

Lay  the  tile  first  smoothly  and  evenly 
and  cover  the  joints  with  pieces  of  broken 
tile,  then  fill  in  with  coarse  cinders  using 
no  earth  over  the  tile.  Tile  in  a  mud-bot- 
tom barn  yard  seldom  works  satisfactorily 
because  the  tramping  of  the  cattle  packs 
the  mud  so  that  the  water  can't  get 
through.     A  mud-bottom  3'ard  has  never 


340 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


been  drained  and  the  chances  are  that  such 
a  yard  never  will  be  drained  in  a  satisfac- 
tory manner. 

Commence  laying  the  brick  in  the  center 
over  the  tile  and  work  both  ways  to  the 
fences.  The  herring  bone  style  of  laying 
brick  gives  the  best  satisfaction.  No  two 
brick  tip  alike  when  laid  like  this.  Of 
course  you  want  every  brick  to  lay  fiat  and 
level,  but  you  don't  always  get  just  what 


blowing  under  and  the  ground  floor  of  the 
shed  slopes  to  the  brick  pavement.  A  lib- 
eral supply  of  straw  for  bedding  is  kept 
in  the  shed  and  this  is  carefully  shaken 
up  every  day. 

Feeders  now-a-days  appreciate  the  im- 
portance of  making  animals  comfortable. 
It  takes  a  good  deal  of  feed  to  supply  the 
heat  dissipated  by  animals  lying  on  the 
cold  ground.     Straw  is  cheaper  than  corn. 


b   CINDERS 
DETAIL    OF     BRICK     PAVEMENT 


you  want.  If  good  hard  burned  bricks  are 
laid  flat,  herring  bone  style  on  a  good 
foundation  you  will  have  more  comfort 
and  satisfaction  than  you  ever  had  in  a 
feeding  lot  before.  If  you  have  lots  of 
money  to  use  and  don't  care  for  expense 
then  put  in  a  cement  pavement  and  build 
it  just  the  same  as  sidewalks  are  built. 
You  will  then  have  a  yard  that  will  last  a 
lifetime,  but  it  won't  be  as  dry  as  the  brick 
because  the  water  must  all  run  to  the  end 
or  center  outlet  on  top  of  the  pavement 
before  it  can  get  away. 

The  Shed. 

A  continuous  shed  is  designed  to  run 
the  whole  length  of  the  feeding  plant  with- 
out a  break.  The  shed  is  twelve  feet  wide 
and  eight  feet  high  in  front  and  six  feet 
six  inches  high  at  the  back.  The  shed  faces 
the  south  and  the  front  is  left  open  to  ad- 
mit sunshine.  The  construction  is  light 
and  cheap  as  shown  in  the  detail  drawing. 
There  are  no  partitions  except  the  fences 
between  pens  which  run  to  the  back  of  the 
shed,  in  fact  the  fence  posts  and  shed  posts 
are  the  same. 

Two  by  six  rafters  fourteen  feet  long  arc 
used  for  the  roof.  These  are  covered  with 
sheathing  l)oards,  dressed  one  side,  and 
on  this  is  stretched  a  good  quality  of  felt 
roofing.  Tlic  north  side  is  banked  with 
cinders  to   prevent   the   cold   winds   from 


Beef  cattle  don't  require  much  protec- 
tion against  the  cold.  Their  thick  winter 
hair  and  hides  are  suflficient  if  they  are 
kept  dry  and  well  fed.  Cattle  will  gain  a 
little  faster  on  the  same  amount  of  feed  if 
kept  warmly  stabled,  but  they  must  have 
fresh  air  and  the  extra  expense  of  individ- 
ual attention  when  handling  them  in  a 
stable  more  than  eats  up  the  additional 
profits  from  the  extra  gains  made.  A  feed- 
ing rack  well  up  above  the  ground  along 
the  back  of  the  shed  is  a  good  thing  at 
times  in  rainy  weather;  it  induces  the  cat- 
tle to  stay  inside.  It  is  better  to  put  the 
feeding  racks  on  the  ground  when  you  use 
them  regularly  every  day,  but  ground 
space  in  the  shed  is  limited  and  such  racks 
will  be  used  occasionally  only.  For  this 
reason  it  is  not  desirable  to  take  up  any 
more  ground  space  than  necessary  for  this 
purpose. 

Corn  Crib. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  alley  way  is 
a  corn  crib  six  feet  wide  at  the  bottom, 
eight  feet  wide  at  the  top,  ten  feet  high 
above  the  foundation  posts  and  as  long  as 
necessary.  This  corn  crib  is  intended  for 
storage  purposes  to  hold  corn  enough  to 
last  all  winter.  There  is  a  door  in  the  end 
and  doors  along  the  alley  side  thirty-two 
feet  apart,  each  door  being  opposite  the 
door  of  a  feeder  crib.  A  temporary  bridge 
reaches  from  one  door  to  the  other  so  the 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


24.x 


53 

r 

'^1 

lO 

% 

242 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


carrying  may  be  done  with  a  wheelbar- 
row or  car  running  on  a  track.  As  the 
bridge  is  intended  to  be  moved  from  one 
feeder  crib  to  the  next  a  wheelbarrow 
would  be  handier  than  a  car  because  it  is 
lighter  and  may  be  easily  moved. 

Feeder  Cribs. 

Between  each  two  pens  is  a  feeder  crib 
six  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  eight  feet  wide 
at  the  top  and  eight  feet  high.  These 
cribs  are  forty  feet  long  extending  back 
from  the  alley  fence.  This  gives  forty 
lineal  feet  of  corn  trough  for  each  feeding 
yard.  These  feeding  troughs  are  made 
by  extending  two  by  four  floor  cross  joists 
two  feet  beyond  the  sills  at  each  side.  The 
floor  in  the  crib  is  laid  on  top  of  these  cross 
joists  and  the  feeder  boxes  are  made  by 
boarding  on  the  imder  side  and  across  the 
ends.  This  makes  the  floor  of  the  feeder 
trough  about  five  inches  lower  than  the 
floor  of  the  crib  which  permits  the  corn  to 
work  out  easily  and  in  case  of  a  driving 
storm  the  water  does  not  run  in  from  the 
feed  troughs  to  wet  the  crib  floor. 

Some  little  experimenting  is  necessary  to 
get  the  opening  the  right  size.  A  smaller 
opening  answers  when  the  trough  is  lower 
than  the  corn  floor.  A  narrow  strip  may 
be  nailed  in  the  opening  at  the  top  if  it  is 
found  too  large. 

The  roofs  of  these  feeder  cribs  are  made 
by  using  sixteen  foot  boards  full  length. 
The  projection  keeps  the  feeder  troughs 
dry  and  provides  a  little  shelter  for  the  an- 
imals when  feeding.  For  the  comfort  of 
the  cattle  it  is  a  good  plan  to  run  eave 
troughs  the  whole  length  of  these  roofs. 
The  water  could  be  carried  to  the  water 
tanks  or  the  drain  in  the  alley. 

At  corn  harvest  time  these  feeder  cribs 
of  course  would  be  filled  first  with  the  ear- 
liest and  best  seasoned  corn  to  feed  first. 
The  later  and  poorer  quality  of  corn  would 
be  housed  in  the  main  storage  crib. 

It  is  not  every  feeder  of  beef  cattle  who 
approves  of  self  feeder  cribs,  but  if  they 
don't  like  to  have  the  animals  help  them- 
selves the  same  cribs  and  the  same  troughs 
will  be  just  as  useful,  so  that  the  man  who 


really  loves  to  work  may  dig  the  corn  out, 
load  it  in  a  basket  and  carry  it  around  to 
the  side  of  the  crib  and  distribute  it  along 
the  troughs.  It  will  pay  some  men  to  do 
this,  men  who  are  built  that  way.  Each 
man  must  work  in  his  own  harness. 

Silos. 

For  some  unaccountable  reason  beef 
men  have  entertained  a  prejudice  against 
silos.  But  not  every  man  who  feeds  cat- 
tle without  their  assistance  objects  to  si- 
los. In  many  cases  they  have  more  corn 
stalks  than  they  can  feed  without  trying 
to  save  the  last  vestige  of  the  corn  crop 
and  they  think  the  animals  can  cut  the  feed 
and  mow  it  away  cheaper  than  it  can  be 
done  by  machinery,  but  the  fact  remains 
that  nearly  one-half  of  the  feeding  value 
of  the  corn  crop  is  in  the  stalks  and  leaves 
of  the  corn  plant.  If  cut  just  at  the  right 
time,  when  the  sap  is  all  in  the  stalk,  cut 
up  fine  and  packed  away  in  an  airtight  silo 
the  stalks  lose  very  little  of  their  feed- 
ing value.  They  may  be  kept  a  year  and 
the  last  silage  from  the  bottom  comes  out 
as  fresh  and  apparently  as  palatable  as 
the  first.  Cattle  will  even  leave  pasture 
in  the  summer  time  to  eat  left  over  silage. 
If  we  ask  the  animals  what  they  think  of 
it  their  actions  are  strongly  in  the  affirma- 
tive. We  must  study  these  things  in  detail 
to  thoroughly  understand  our  business. 

Looking  at  the  silo  problem  from  the 
broadest  side  it  certainly  would  pay  to  put 
some  of  the  crop  in  silos.  The  stalks  from 
cigth  or  ten  acres  will  fill  a  sixteen  by  thir- 
ty-two foot  silo  so  that  most  feeders  would 
only  have  an  opportunity  to  cut  oflf  one 
side  of  the  corn  crop  and  they  would  still 
have  a  large  quantity  of  stalks  to  go  to 
waste. 

The  silos  in  the  plan  are  made  of  two 
by  eight  pine  planks  dressed  both  sides,  the 
edges  beveled  and  put  together  like  a  tub. 
They  are  hooped  with  three-quarter  inch 
round  iron  hoops  drawn  up  with  nut? 
against  the  shoulders  of  cast  iron  plates 
as  showrt  in  the  detail  drawing  on  another 
page. 

This  feeding  plant  is  designed  to  s^ave 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


243 


labor  and  to  utilize  feed  to  the  best  possi- 
ble advantage.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
build  a  large  plant  any  cheaper  and  have 
it  satisfactory.     It  would  also  be  difficult 


to  build,  on  any  other  plan,  a  thoroughly 
practical  plant  that  could  be  extended  in- 
definitely as  the  business  grows  without 
altering  or  rebuilding. 


CHEAP  CATTLE  SHED 

Some  kind  of  a  cattle  shed  is  necessary 
in  connection  with  every  feed  lot.  Plan 
(A123)  shows  a   cattle   shed   ninety   feet 


-A123 


long  and  ten  feet  six  inches  wide.  It  is 
built  of  two  by  fours  for  framing,  covered 
with  boards  twelve  feet  and  sixteen  feet 


the  full  length  of  the  shed  against  the 
back  wall.  The  front  side  of  the  manger 
is  bedded  in  the  ground  which  together 
with  a  little  banking  on  the  outside  pre- 
vents the  cold  winds  frorh  blowing  under. 
Some  feeders  fail  to  realize  the  importance 
of  this  precaution.  The  north  wind  seems 
much  colder  when  it  forces  through  a 
small  opening.  There  is  something  about 
the  bottom  of  a  shed  that  seems  to  invite 
a  current  of  air  from  the  north,  but  this 
feed  manger  arrangement  seems  to  get 
the  better  of  it.  Mangers  should  be  low  for 
another  reason.  For  thousands  of  years 
cattle  have  been  accustomed  to  feed  from 
the  ground.  While  in  pastures  they  keep 
their  heads  down  nearly  all  of  the  time, 
but  for  some  unaccountable  reason  they 
are  expected  to  hold  their  heads  two  or 
three  feet  high  when  being  fed  artificially. 
The  shed  is  supported  by  short  cedar 
posts  which  are  set  well  into  the  ground, 
the  tops  of  them  being  cut  almost  even 
with  the  surface.  The  doors  are  made 
wide  enough  and  high  enough  to  get  in 


h- 


•SUCTION    /!Nff   PlflAI    OF  C/imf:   S/jTO 


^ 


long    which    cut    to    advantage    without     easily  with  a  manure  spreader,  and  there 

waste  except  at  the  ends.  are  no  posts  or  partitions  in  the  way  so 

There  is  a  low-down  manger  which  runs     that  it  is  easv  to  clean  out  the  manure. 


Sheds  on  three  sides  of  a  hollow  square 
is  an  old  style  way  of  building  feeding 
sheds.  It  is  probably  the  best  way  now 
except  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  economize 
labor  with  this  construction  than  it  is  with 


CATTLE  SHED— Ai  55 

a  straight  away  proposition  where  you 
can  run  a  railway  and  a  feed  truck  the 
whole  length  of  the  shed.  The  hollow 
square  proposition  has  the  advantage  of 
warmth  because  it  is  protected  from  the 


244 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


east,  west  and  north  winds.     Yards  like     swing  easily    and    fasten    quickly    help  a 

this  are  always  built  opening  towards  the     good  deal. 

south.  It  is  customary  to  drive  around  with  a 


-I  J 


< /X-0  —  4 


wmmm^^ 


^E.c-TiOM  e:.l.x.v-at\on 


F>i_AiM    OF   cattle:    SHUn 


6 IX-O  —  3 


>         QjV^^^O 


-O- 


sx.eTi<iNi  OF  'rao/^-RtiiNa- 


In  this  plan  there  are  convenient  gates 
to  drive  in  when  bringing  roughage  or 
other  feed  to  the  cattle.  The  gates  to  look 
well  should  be  made  right  and  left  and 
they  should  have  automatic  devices  to  fas- 
ten them  quickly.  Animals  confined  in  a 
yard  in  the  winter  time  are  crazj'  to  get 
out.  They  learn  how  to  slip  up  alongside 
of  a  wagon  and  crowd  through  the  gate 
when  the  driver  is  engaged  with  his  team. 
This  is  a  source  of  annoyance  that  can 
hardly  be  avoided,  but  good  gates  that 


rack  load  of  feed  and  dump  a  little  in  each 
feed  rack  as  often  as  necessary.  Sometimes 
a  self-feeder  for  corn  in  the  ear  is  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  yard  and  this  helps  a 
good  deal  in  saving  labor  and  the  labor 
problem  is  worrying  feeders  more  every 
year.  There  are  feed  carriers  that  may  be 
hung  from  an  overhead  track  to  pass 
around  through  a  shed  like  this,  but  us- 
ually the  cars  do  not  hold  enough  to  ef- 
fect much  of  a  saving. 


Poultry  Houses 


THE  BEST  POULTRY  HOUSE  — A219 


THE  cheapest  poultry  house  may  not  be 
the  best,  but  it  has  been  demonstrated 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  to  a  great 
deal  of  expense  to  make  a  poultry  house 
that  is  as  good  as  the  best.  A  few  funda- 
mental principles  will  cover  the  whole 
subject.  A  poultry  house  must  be  clean, 
airy  and  dr}',  so  the  location  is  very  im- 
portant. 

If  you  ask  any  experienced  poultry  man 
what  one  thing  has  given  him  the  most 
trouble  he  will  tell  you  lice.  If  you  chase 
down  a  failure  in  poultry  raising  and 
get  at  the  true  inwardness  you  will  find 
lice  at  the  bottom.  Knowing  this  to  start 
with  one  of  the  first  requisites  is  to  build  a 
house  that  may  be  easily  and  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  kept  clean.  Have  the  word 
cleanliness  stamped  on  the  house  from  one 
end  to  the  other. 

To  accomplish  this  every  article  of  fur- 
niture in  the  house  must  be  removable. 
There  must  not  be  a  crack  or  crevice  to 
harbor  lice  that  you  cannot  fill  with  crude 
oil  or  some  other  disinfectant  and  you 
must  have  a  handy  cleanout  where  the 
litter  may  be  removed  and  replaced  with 
new  clean  material  with  as  little  work  as 
possible. 

Next  to  cleanliness  comes  ventilation 
which  in  a  poultry  house  means  admitting 
plenty  of  fresh  air  without  the  slightest 
suspicion  of  a  draft,  a  problem  that  has 
caused  more  experimenting  than  any  other 


one  item  in  connection  with  poultry  rais- 
ing. 

After  years  of  experience  the  whole 
problem  has  been  worked  down  to  a  very 
simple  construction  and  the  most  popular 
house  today  is  a  low,  cheap  affair  that  may 
be  built  by  any  intelligent  farm  hand  if  he 
will  simply  read  and  follow  instructions. 
Poultrymen  dififer  in  regard  to  the  width 
of  a  house.  Some  want  a  house  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  feet  wide  so  the  sun  can 
shine  clear  to  the  back  of  it ;  other  poultry- 
men  want  a  house  from  sixteen  to  twenty- 
four  feet  wide  so  they  can  house  more 
poultry  at  practically  the  same  expense. 
We  are  showing  the  general  plan  and  giv- 
ing the  reason  why  without  specifying  any 
special  width.  It  is  understood  of  course 
that  these  houses  may  be  any  length  as 
one  pen  is  a  duplicate  of  the  other  all  the 
way  through. 

The  front  of  the  house  is  from  eight  to 
twelve  feet  high,  according  to  the  width, 
but  three  and  one-half  feet  is  high  enough 
for  the  back  of  any  house,  and  it  is  better 
low  because  the  roosts  are  placed  back 
here  where  it  is  warm  in  winter  and  you 
want  a  low  ceiling  to  confine  the  warm  air 
close  to  the  fowls.  You  can  secure  ven- 
tilation by  having  a  warm  roost.  The  body 
heat  of  the  fowls  will  warm  the  air  and  we 
all  know  that  heated  air  is  lighter  than  cold 
air  and  for  this  reason  it  will  follow  the 
slant  of  the  roof  upward  and  cold  air  will 


246 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


come  in  from  the  front  to  gradually  take 
its  place.  In  this  way  you  can  get  a  con- 
stant change  of  air  around  the  fowls  with- 
out a  draft. 

We  have  windows  in  the  high  front  side 
to  admit  sunlight  and  air.  Some  of  the 
windows  are  covered  with  cotton,  while 


remember.  Fowls  are  warmly  clothed 
with  feathers  and  they  will  stand  the  cold 
a  great  deal  better  than  bad  air  provided 
that  the  cold  is  dry,  and  it  is  understood 
that  the  poultry  house  is  dry  otherwise 
it  is  no  good. 

Another  important  feature  is  the  kind 


t 


□ 


□ 


7^ 


;=VC  <=^y^  V     J^J-^  ^ri/fT/ 


O/N/ 


J     ;^<g><s>3-[r^ 


/^OcsT^ 


nr 


I'll 


I   I    ' 


I    I    I    I  1    r 


JZPl/^T  TSox-^ 


TT 


7=^^y^ 


\ 


some  of  them  are  fitted  with  glazed  sash. 
The  extent  of  the  cotton  surface  depends 
upon  the  size  of  the  house,  the  number  of 
fowls  kept  in  a  pen  and  the  climate.  In 
the  far  north  you  cannot  have  a  great 
deal  of  cotton  surface  without  making  the 
house  top  cold,  but  right  here  is  a  point  to 


of  cotton.  Cotton  does  not  mean  canvas 
or  thick  heavy  ducking,  it  means  some- 
thing that  will  let  the  air  through  freely. 
Some  poultrymcn  say  the  thinner  the  bet- 
ter, but  probably  a  cheap  grade  of  cotton 
such  as  you  buy  retail  for  about  four  cents 
a  yard  will  answer  the  purpose  best.  And 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


247 


you  want  to  tack  the  cotton  on  loose, 
leave  it  baggy  so  it  may  flap  in  the  wind 
because  every  flap  jars  the  dust  loose.  If 
the  cotton  is  drawn  tight  dust  will  settle 
and  clog  the  little  openings. 


MUm  Mil 


^J^JTTllr 


B    II    11    II    il 


Some  poultrymen  cover  all  the  openings 
with  cotton  and  have  glass  sashes  inside 
that  they  may  slide  shut  at  night  or  during 
extremely  bad  weather.  When  the  cotton 
ventilators  are  made  right  and  kept  right 
the  air  in  the  poultry  house  will  be  good. 

In  the  north  make  no  openings  into  the 
poultry  house  except  in  front,  unless  you 
have  front  yards  to  interfere.  In  that 
case  make  the  doors  in  the  ends  right 
against  the  front  corner. 

For  material  use  matched  stuf¥  with 
building  paper  either  one  or  two  thickness- 


es according  to  the  degree  of  cold  you  are 
obliged  to  guard  against.  A  good  house 
is  made  with  a  light  frame  work  of  two  by 
fours  covered  with  seven-eighth  matched 
boarding  dressed  smooth  on  one  side  and 
the  smooth  surface  turned  in.  The  two 
by  fours  are  dressed  on  all  sides  to  make 
them  smooth.  Avoid  every  possible  rough- 
ness because  it  will  hold  dust.  Dust  will 
harbor  microbes  as  well  as  lice  and  mites, 
which  leads  us  back  to  one  main  branch 
of  our  text,  cleanliness. 

Have  no  eave  projection  at  the  back. 
Cover  the  matched  boarding  with  tar 
paper  commencing  at  the  back  at  the 
ground  and  work  up  to  the  high  part  of 
the  roof  in  front.  Make  good  joints  nailed 
down  into  fresh  tar.  Put  the  tar  roofing 
paper  on  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  hold 
standing  water,  then  you  know  that 
neither  water  nor  air  can  get  through. 
Cover  the  ends  of  the  building  in  the  same 
way. 

Dropping  boards  are  placed  against  the 
back  of  the  house  fitted  close  against 
cleats  to  prevent  draughts  and  hung  with 
hooks  so  thev  will  lift  up  out  of  the  way 
to  clean  the  floor. 

Six  inches  above  the  droppings  boards 
are  loose  roosts  that  may  be  easily  lifted 
oflf  and  carried  outdoors  for  cleaning.  The 
oftener  they  are  carried  out  and  given  a 
heating  up  in  the  sun  the  better. 

Some  poultrymen  prefer  what  they  call 
nesting  rooms.  These  may  be  easily  made 
by  placing  two  rows  of  nest  boxes  to- 
gether with  a  passage  between  so  built 
that  they  may  be  easily  moved  about  or 
carried  out  doors.  Room  A  shows  such 
an  arrangement.  There  is  a  large  dusting 
box  on  top  with  wooden  pins  projecting 
to  prevent  roosting  on  the  edge  of  it.  In 
room  B  the  dust  box  is  built  on  legs  so  it 
stands  up  eighteen  inches  to  two  feet 
above  the  floor.  This  leaves  the  ground 
space  clear  for  litter  for  scratching  and 
keeps  the  contents  of  the  boxes  free  of 
straw  and  trash  so  the  hens  can  dust 
themselves  better.  Then  a  box  elevated 
a  little  catches  the  sunlight  through  a 
window  to  better  advantage. 


248 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


Hens  love  to  dust  themselves  in  the  sun 
in  winter  time.  If  the  boxes  are  large 
enough  to  hold  three  or  four  hens  at  once 
it  is  all  the  better  because  it  fosters  a  sort 
of  hen  sociability.  If  you  watch  them  at 
such  times  you  will  notice  that  they  appar- 
ently talk  together  and  enjoy  a  little  hen 
gossip  among  themselves.  It  is  only  by 
studying  the  habits  of  poultry  that  we  can 
get  at  the  proper  management.  Poultry 
management  to  be  successful  depends  on 
little  things  and  there  are  a  great  many 
of  them. 

This  house  may  be  built  directly  on  the 
ground,  or  it  may  have  a  cement  or  stone 
wall  under  it.  The  floor  inside  may  be  earth 
or  cement,  but  never  of  wood.  Earth  is 
the  best,  cement  is  rat  proof,  but  no  matter 
what  the  floor  is  you  must  have  the  sills 
so  imbedded  that  there  will  be  no  draft. 
This  may  be  done  in   a   dozen   different 


ways.  Perhaps  the  simplest  is  to  nail  a 
board  on  the  sill  that  reaches  down  into 
the  ground  eight  or  ten  inches.  There  is 
no  hard  and  fast  rule  for  the  way  in  which 
it  is  done  so  long  as  you  accomplish  the 
purpose,  that  of  keeping  the  air  from  blow- 
ing through.  You  want  air  but  you  don't 
want  to  admit  it  under  the  sills  or  through 
cracks  in  any  part  of  the  building. 

For  cleaning  the  droppings  boards  you 
need  a  half  barrel  mounted  on  wheels  and 
it  should  be  used  every  day.  One  great 
value  of  such  a  convenience  is  that  it  will 
be  used  when  an  awkward  afifair  would  be 
neglected  as  much  as  possible.  A  cart 
like  this  costs  very  little  and  is  worth  a 
great  deal.  For  the  same  reason  we  want 
some  kind  of  an  absorbent  to  sprinkle 
over  the  roosting  boards.  Roosts  may  be 
kept  clean  if  you  go  about  it  in  the  right 
wav.     It  is  well  worth  the  effort. 


PRACTICAL  POULTRY  HOUSE  — A168 


A  single  section  of  a  two-pen  poultry 
house  fourteen  by  twenty-four  feet  is 
given  in  this  plan.  The  house  of  course 
may  be  any  length  by  adding  any  number 


A  passageway  on  the  north  side,  where 
the  roof  is  high  to  make  head  room,  is  par- 
titioned ofif  and  the  work  of  feeding  is 
done  along  this  passage.     A  door  lifts  up 


Passage 


.SEoyioN. 

of  twenty-four  foot  sections.  It  is  placed 
so  that  the  windows  look  to  the  south  to 
gather  all  the  sunlight  possible. 


Groumd  Plan. 

in  front  of  the  roosts  from  this  passage- 
way to  facilitate  cleaning.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  enter  the  scratching  room  very 
often  because  most  of  the  attention  may 
be  given  from  the  alleyway.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  space  occupied  by  the  dust 
boxes  the  whole  floor,  except  this  passage- 
way, is  given  over  to  scratching  purposes 
as  the  roosts  and  dropping  boards  are  ele- 
vated so    the    chickens    can  work  under 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


249 


tiiem.  A  section  of  this  house  will  ac- 
commodate from  twenty  to  thirty  birds 
according  to  size. 

Poultry  men  argue  by  the  hour  about 
the  necessity  of  an  alleyway.  There  are 
many  different  opinions.  Some  think  an 
alleyway  is  worth  all  the  room  it  takes 
up  just  to  prevent  annoying  the  fowls, 
when  feeding  by  going  in  and  out  from 


amongst  them.  Other  poultry  men  think 
that  chickens  ought  to  be  tame  enough 
to  pay  very  little  attention  to  the  feeder 
when  he  goes  about  his  work,  but  it  is 
generally  noticeable  that  a  hen  makes 
quite  a  fuss  when  she  thinks  she  is  about 
to  be  cornered.  This  applies  to  hens  that 
are  ordinarily  tame,  as  well  as  those  that 
are  ordinarily  wild. 


HEXAGONAL  POULTRY  HOUSE -174 


The  house  shown  is  in  the  shape  of  a 
hexagon  and  makes  a  very  handosme  and 
convenient  house,  and  is  just  the  thing 
for  the  city  lot  where  space  is  limited.  The 
ground  or  floor  plan  will  show  you  the 
interior  arrangement.  The  size  of  this 
house  is  ten  feet  six  inches,  and  each  of 
the  sides  is  six  feet  three-quarters  inch  in 


signed  that  the  ground  floor  shall  be  of 
earth,  which  is,  in  most  cases,  the  most 
satisfactory  floor  material,  and  should  be 
used  whenever  practicable.  Cement  floors 
are  also  good,  however;  where  they  are 
used  the  poultry  house  will  generally  pre- 
sent a  more  attractive  appearance  and  can 
be  kept   cleaner,  with  less  labor,  than  a 


Et-tVATION. 

length.  The  corner  posts  are  six  feet 
long  and  the  center  of  the  house  nine  feet 
from  floor  to  peak  of  roof.  The  house 
should  be  built  with  one  window  facing  di- 
rectly south  and  the  other  facing  south- 
east, thus  allowing  an  abundance  of  sun- 
light to  enter  the  building  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  it  is  most  needed. 


house    having    earth    or    wooden 
Wooden  floors  should  not  be  used 


In  nearly  all  the  plans  given  it  is  de-  can  be  avoided. 


floors, 
if  they 


The  modification  of  the  popular  open 
front  poultry  house  is  given  in  this  plan. 
It  is  suitable  for  two  lots  of  hens  of  forty 
or  fifty  each,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
breed.  The  house  is  forty  feet  long  and 
ten  feet  wide,  divided  into  two  compart- 
ments. Each  compartment  has  a  warm 
room  and  scratching  shed  which  is  open 


OPEN  FRONT  POULTRY  HOUSE— Aiio 

to  the  south.     This  makes  each  room  ten 
feet  square  with  a  roof  eight  feet  high  in 


front  and  four  feet  at  the  back.  No  room 
is  taken  up  in  hallways  or  passageways 
but  the  doors  entering  the  warm  rooms 
open  from  the  scratching  sheds. 

Very  light  material  is  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  this  house.     Sills  are  four  bv 


aso 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


six  inches,  and  two  by  fours  are  used  for 
rafters.  Common  lumber  is  used  for 
boarding, which  is  covered  on  the  outside 
with  building  paper  and  the  building  paper 
is  covered  with  thin  matched  sheathing. 
For  the  roof  common  sheathing  boards 
are  laid  close  together  and  covered  with 


in  this  plan  is  very  satisfactory.  It  shows 
a  roosting  platform  with  a  row  of  nests 
underneath.  For  leghorns  or  similar  fowls 
twelve  inches  square  and  seven  or  eight 
inches  high  is  large  enough  for  the  nest 
boxes,  but  for  brahmas  or  cochins  two  or 
three   inches  larger  each   wav   are   much 


tarred  paper  and  the  paper  covered  with  better.  To  facilitate  cleaning  the  drop- 
shingles.  This  makes  a  warm  roof  which  ping  board  and  nest  boxes  lift  off  from  the 
is  very  essential  to  a  poultry  house.  lower  platform.      The  lower  platform   is 


:    I 


/ 


,-i-J-_:.- 


■f^ 


,^ L--i  --i- 


\ 


Each  of  the  closed  pens  has  a  window 
that  reaches  down  to  the  sill.  This  win- 
dow is  wide  enough  and  high  enough  to 
let  in  a  great  deal  of  sunshine,  and  this  is 
what  the  chickens  need  in  winter.  All  in- 
side surfaces  are  dressed  to  prevent  lodge- 
ment of  dust  and  hiding  places  for  vermin. 
The  whole  bottom  of  the  building  is  fdled 
in  several  inches  deep  with  grout  mortar. 
In  the  warm  rooms  the  floor  joists  are  em- 
bedded in  the  soft  mortar  and  a  matched 
floor  laid  on.  A  floor  like  this  is  dry  and 
easily  cleaned  and  it  is  impossible  for  rats 
to  work  their  way  up  through  it.  There  is 
no  wooden  floor  in  the  scratching  sheds. 
The  grout  fllling  is  supposed  to  be  covered 
with  straw  a  foot  or  so  in  depth.  The  hens 
will  work  in  this  straw  even  in  the  coldest 
days,  but  of  course  it  is  a  good  plan  to  have 
a  liberal  supply  of  straw  in  the  warm  room 
for  amusement  night  and  morning. 

For  nest  boxes  the  arrangement  given 


hinged  and  may  be  dropped  down  or  un- 
hooked and  the  whole  thing  carried  out- 


doors. It  is  very  important  to  have  roost- 
ing poles,  dropping  board  and  nest  boxes 
loose.  A  great  deal  of  trouble  has  come 
from    vermin    getting    into    these    places 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


251 


without  having  facilities  to  eradicate  them 
easily. 

Hens  seldom  form  the  egg  eating  habit 
if  the  nests  are  dark.       This  is  whv  the 


boxes  open  from  the  back  under  cover. 
The  dropping  board  is  not  fastened  to  the 
nest  boxes  in  any  way.  When  gathering 
the  eggs  it  may  be  lifted  easily. 


A  little  two  story  poultry  house  that 
looks  like  a  plaything  is  shown  in  plan 
(A153),  but  this  house  is  all  right  as  far  as 
it  goes.  It  is  especially  valuable  for  a  boy 
who  would  like  to  start  in  the  poultry  bus- 
iness but  cannot  aflford  a  more  expensive 


SMALL  POULTRY  HOUSE— Ai 53 

so  they  may  be  moved  about  for  cleaning 
or  taken  out  at  any  time  and  put  back  as 
needed.  It  is  not  intended  that  any  one 
will  find  it  necessary  to  go  inside  this  lit- 
tle house.  The  work  is  all  done  through 
the  windows.     The  inner  screens  may  be 


'Sccr/ON 


SW£  £:L£ry/fT/OA/ 


house.  This  little  house  is  four  feet  wide 
and  twelve  feet  long  with  a  scratching 
shed  the  full  size  on  the  ground  under  the 
floor.  This  space  underneath  is  two  feet 
high  and  the  windows  should  extend  well 
across  the  front  side. 

A  runway  for  the  chickens  to  get  up  and 
down  the  stairs  is  made  by  sawing  off  one 
wide  floor  board  and  hinging  it  in  such  a 
way  as  to  let  one  end  drop  to  the  ground. 
When  this  is  raised  up  it  fits  the  opening 
in  the  floor  and  it  should  be  fitted  with 
jambs  to  keep  the  cold  from  coming 
through  the  cracks. 

The  nest  boxes    and    roosts    are    loose 


rigged  with  cords  and  pulleys  to  hold  them 
up  and  the  outside  windows  may  be  held 
up  by  braces  from  the  building.  To  gath- 
er the  eggs,  clean  out  the  house,  or  for 
feeding,  one  of  the  windows  is  raised  and 
the  screen  pulled  back  with  a  cord.  The 
chickens  may  be  driven  down  stairs  or  up- 
stairs during  the  operation.  The  screens 
may  be  of  wire  or  cotton,  or  both.  Cotton 
is  the  best  because  the  window  can  be  then 
left  open  and  the  chickens  will  get  plenty 
of  fresh  air  without  a  draught.  On  farms 
where  considerable  poultry  is  kept  one  of 
these  little  houses  would  be  found  useful 
occasionally  to  keep  some  breed  separate. 


DUCK  HOUSE— A98 

A  house  designed  for  the  housing  of  cedar  posts  set  on  blocks  to  prevent  set- 
thoroughbred  ducks  is  given  in  plan  tling.  The  idea  is  to  have  a  damp  proof 
(A98).     It  is  built  up  from  the  ground  on     house  with  the  best  possible  ventilation. 


252 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


253 


The  building  is  sixteen  by  thirty  feet 
and  contains  one  general  room  with  a  pas- 
sage, which  is  also  a  storeroom  for  feed, 
along  one  side  and  across  one  end.  All 
the  principal  construction  details  are 
fully  shown  in  the  detail  drawings. 

The  house  is  built  principally  of  two  by 
fours  as  it  is  not  very  large  and  heavier 
timber  is  not  necessary.  The  especial  fea- 
tures are  the  filling  of  mineral  wool  in  the 
partitions  for  warmth  and  a  slatted  ceiling 
with  straw  overhead  for  ventilation  with- 
out drafts  and  without  letting  in  an  un- 
necessary amount  of  cold  air. 


This  style  of  a  building  is  somewhat  ex- 
pensive but  it  is  very  satisfactory  when 
finished.  It  is  usually  considered  that  any 
kind  of  an  old  shed  will  do  for  ducks.  In 
most  cases  any  kind  of  an  old  shed  is  made 
to  answer  the  purpose,  but  there  is  money 
in  the  better  breeds  and  to  get  results  it 
is  necessary  to  keep  even  ducks  with  some 
idea  of  comfort.  Some  of  the  improved 
varieties  bring  fancy  prices  for  eggs  and 
young  breeding  stock,  but  like  other  thor- 
oughbred animals  fancy  ducks  need  a  lit- 
tle more  attention  than  little  old  scrubs 
that  most  of  us  are  accustomed  to. 


DOUBLE    POULTRY    HOUSE— Ai 54 


A  small  double  poultry  house  is  shown  in 
plan  (A154).  It  is  twenty-four  feet  long 
and  sixteen  feet  wide,  giving  a  space  of  six- 
teen by  twelve  feet  to  each  compartment. 
It  is  very  simple  and  it  is  also  cheap  and 
durable.     It  mav  be  built  of  matched  stuff 


down  to  the  ground  at  the  back. 

Inside,  the  house  is  practically  all  one 
room,  but  a  roost  curtain  may  be  hung 
with  a  roller  to  pull  down  at  night  or  the 
cotton  may  be  tacked  on  a  hinged  frame 
to  let  down  at  night,  also  one  or  more  of 


/=>ouLr/fy    HOO'S£ 


with  the  smooth  side  turned  in,  or  it  may 
be  constructed  of  rough  lumber.  Of  course 
matched  stuff  is  very  much  the  best  as  it 
leaves  no  harbor  for  vermin  and  no  lodg- 
ment for  dust.  In  either  case  the  building 
is  covered  outside  with  tarred  paper.  The 
paper  is  started,  in  strips,  from  the  eaves 
in  front,  carried  over  the  peak  and  clear 


and  the 


the  windows   may  be  left  open 
spaces  covered  with  cotton. 

Against  the  back  wall  is  the  droppings 
board  with  the  roosts  above  it  and  the 
nest  boxes  underneath.  All  this  furnish- 
ing is  made  removable  so  far  as  possible 
for  easy  cleaning.  The  apron  board  in 
front  of  the  nest  boxes  lifts  out  in  sections. 


This  building  is  68  feet  long  and  16 
feet  wide,  built  on  a  post  foundation, 
which  is  enclosed  with  planking  covered 
with  galvanized  wire  cloth  to  a  depth  of 
about  two  feet  below  the  ground,  to  check 
the  tunneling  of  rats,  etc. 

Almost  every  lover  of  poultry  has  his 


MODEL  CHICKEN  HOUSE— A173 

own  ideas  as  to  how  the  model  chicken 
house  should  be  arranged  and  constructed, 
and  every  chicken  house  that  is  not  thus 
constructed  may  meet  with  his  severe  crit- 
icism. We  will,  therefore,  not  lay  stress 
on  any  one  particular  feature  of  this  build- 
ing but  will  say  that  several  different  ideas 


^OUTH   ^IDEL    HLnVAJ-ION 


COA/vSTT^UCV/O/V      07=" 


TL007R 


rr  ooT«  ZTA/Qj 


■HOOM     aJO.  J 


^TLCTIOrsI    THHOUCH 
riOOM     A/a  6 


DESIGN 


NORTH  j^ion:    nLr?^AT/or^ 

or  CMiCKEN  Mousn: 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


255 


have  been  used  which  may  be  explained 
as  follows: 

Rooms  Nos.  i  and  2  (see  floor  plan)  are 
used  together;  room  i  being  the  scratch- 
ing room  which  is  used  in  stormy  and  win- 
ter weather  for  exercise,  and  room  No.  2 
is  the  feed,  nest  and  roost  room. 

The  roosts  are  placed  above  the  nests 
which  have  a  cover,  or  roof,  pitched  so  the 
chickens  cannot  roost  on  the  nest,  but  are 
compelled  to  get  on  the  roost  above.  The 
nests  are  open  in  front,  having  a  passage 
for  the  chickens,  running  the  full  length 
of  each  section.  The  nest  sections  are  re- 
movable through  doors  opposite  each  sec- 
tion, so  they  can  be  easily  cleaned  and 
aired;  they  set  on  a  rack  which  elevates 
them  about  twenty  inches  above  the  floor, 
so  the  chickens  can  walk  below  them 
where  the  feed  troughs  are  located,  as 
shown  in  the  section  through  room  No.  2. 

Room  No.  3  is  a  feed  room,  5  feet  wide, 
which  contains  feed  bins  for  grain,  meal, 
etc.  To  the  right  (east)  of  this  feed  room 
are  rooms  4,  5  and  6.  In  this  scheme,  the 
nest  room,  4,  is  separated  from  the  roost 
room,  6,  one  being  to  the  west  and  the 
other  to  the  east  of  the  scratching  rooms. 
This  may  have  several  advantages  over  the 
idea  of  room  i  and  2  where  the  chickens 
roost  and  lay  in  the  same  room,  but  it  also 
has  some  disadvantages,  one  of  which  is 
that  a  larger  building  is  required  for  the 
same  number  of  fowls. 

The  nests  of  room  4  are  so  constructed 
that  each  nest  can  be  taken  out  separately, 

SCRATCHING  SHED 

A  poultry  house  with  an  open  scratching 
shed  is  shown  in  plan  (A151).  The  house 
is  thirty-four  feet  long  by  twelve  in  width. 
Poultry  men  difi^er  about  the  width  of  a 
house  constructed  in  this  manner.  Some 
prefer  twelve  feet  because  it  is  easier  to 
get  the  sunlight  clear  to  the  back,  as  these 
houses  should  always  front  the  south.  On 
the  other  hand  men  with  considerable  ex- 
perience prefer  houses  sixteen  or  even 
twenty  feet  in  width  because  they  can 
house  more  fowls  for  practically  the  same 
amount  of  money. 


or  each  entire  section  can  be  taken  out 
through  doors  the  same  as  in  room  2.  In 
place  of  the  chicken  being  in  view  while 
on  the  nest,  in  room  4  the  opening  of  the 
nests  face  the  wall,  having  a  dark  passage 
for  the  chickens.  By  being  out  of  view 
they  are  not  frightened  while  the  eggs  are 
being  gathered,  which  is  done  through  a 
small  round  hand-hole  through  the  back 
of  the  nest.  This  is  covered  by  a  small 
wooden  shutter  loosely  screwed  on  over 
the  hand-hole  so  it  will  always  hang 
closed.  Feed  boxes  similar  to  those  in 
room  2,  are  located  along  the  hallway. 

Rooms  I  and  5  have  earth  floors  and 
boxes  filled  with  dust,  for  dust  baths.  All 
other  floors  are  constructed  double,  with 
two  inches  of  mineral  wool  between  them 
for  warmth,  as  shown  in  the  section.  All 
side  walls  of  the  building  have  heavy 
building  paper  both  inside  and  outside  of 
the  studding,  and  the  space  between  is  al- 
so filled  with  mineral  wool. 

The  space  between  the  ceiling  and  roof 
is  filled  with  straw  during  the  winter 
months,  and  the  ceiling  boards  are  spaced 
half  an  inch  apart  to  allow  a  free  circu- 
lation of  air  through  the  ceiling  and  straw. 
This  is  brought  about  by  having  windows 
at  each  end  of  the  building,  which  are  con- 
trolled by  cords.  All  windows  on  the 
north  have  storm  sash  for  winter.  Venti- 
lation shafts  are  built  in  the  north  wall, 
with  side  shutters  for  admitting  fresh  air 
and  exhausting  foul  air  in  winter,  when  all 
windows  are  kept  closed. 

POULTRY   HOUSE— Ai 51 

There  are  many  ways  of  building  an 
open  scratching  shed  and  poultry  house, 
but  this  plan  seems  to  contain  about  every- 
thing that  is  necessary.  The  door  open- 
ing into  the  hen-house  is  just  a  frame  cov- 
ered with  cotton  which  admits  both  light 
and  air  to  the  roosts  and  nest  boxes.  The 
outside  wire  netting  may  be  covered  with 
cotton  or  not  according  to  the  climate  and 
the  ideas  of  the  owner. 

The  roofing  is  tarred  paper  and  it  starts 
at  the  highest  point  in  front,  turns  over  the 
upper  corner  at  the  back  and  goes  clear 


25b 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


down  to  the  ground.     This  makes  a  thor- 
oughly wind  proof  and  damp  proof  house. 
It  is  a  pecuHar  thing  about  the  damp- 


than  anything  else  in  the  poultry  line.  It 
is  easier  to  build  a  satisfactory  stable  for 
any  other  domestic  animal  than  it  is  for 


eCS/^/fT/OA/ 


ness  in  poultry  houses.  It  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  question  that  has  bothered 
poultry    men    more    than    anything    else. 


y^noH  Njuo/Ho  jo   nuij    i/ootj 


Why  a  poultry  house  should  gather  damp- 
ness and  have  white  frost  on  the  inside 
when  all  the  stables  on  the  farm  are  com- 
paratively  dry   has   bothered   more   men 


chickens  unless  we  are  satisfied  with  what 
is  commonly  termed  a  curtain  front  house. 
The  phrase  curtain  front  simply  means 
that  some  of  the  openings  are  covered  with 
thin  cotton  instead  of  glass.  It  seems  to 
have  solved  the  problem  of  how  to  make  a 
chicken  house  light,  airy  and  dry,  but  not 
all  curtain  front  houses  work  alike.  A  great 
deal  depends  on  the  head  room.  A  few  hens 
have  not  body  warmth  enough  to  heat  a 
great  deal  of  space.  You  cannot  have  good 
ventilation  without  heat.  The  solution 
seems  to  be  to  build  a  comparatively  small 
house  with  a  low  roof.  Some  poultry  men 
build  their  curtain  front  houses  as  low  as 
two  feet  at  the  back  and  only  about  six  or 
seven  feet  high  in  front. 


An  A  shaped  poultry  house  is  given  in 
plan  (A152).  This  is  the  cheapest  way  to 
build  a  poultry  house.     You  don't  have  to 


AN  A-SHAPED  POULTRY  HOUSE— Ai 52 

It  is  divided  lengthwise  with  a  curtain 
partition.  This  curtain  is  in  four  foot  sec- 
tions  and   it   rolls   up  on   heavy  window 


3£CnoA/ 


J/D£    CL  £  t^/7r/OA/ 


build  a  roof  or  if  you  build  a  roof  you 
don't  have  to  build  sides.  You  can  do 
either  way  you  choose. 


shade  rollers,  so  that  it  may  be  pulled 
down  cold  nights  to  make  a  warm  roosting 
place.  The  material  of  the  curtain  is  cheap 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


257 


cotton  costing  three  or  four  cents  per  yard. 
The  sections  are  divided  by  two  by  four 
posts  reaching  from  the  floor  to  the  ridge 
pole  and  made  flush  on  the  curtain  side. 
You  attach  the  roller  to  the  ridge  pole  so 
the  curtain  rolls  up  on  the  inside  of  the 
roller  which  brings  it  close  to  the  wood- 
work. 

The  house  shown  in  the  plan  is  eight 


feet  wide  and  sixteen  feet  long.  One  end 
of  this  building  is  supposed  to  front  the 
south.  There  is  a  small  door  in  this  end 
for  the  chickens  to  go  in  and  out  and  the 
window  is  as  big  as  possible.  The  entrance 
door  is  at  the  side  and  it  should  be  near  the 
south  end.  It  is  bad  plan  to  have  doors, 
windows  or  any  openings  in  the  north  end 
or  north  side  of  a  poultry  house. 


SMALL  CHICKEN  HOUSE— Ai  19 

A  very  neat  little  chicken  house  is  shown  the  dropping  board,  is  loose  and  may  be 

in  plan  (A119).     In  size  it  is  only  7x16  easily  taken    out    through    the    door  for 

feet  but  it  makes  comfortable  quarters  for  cleaning.     The  roosts  also  are  loose  and 

15  or  20  hens.     It  is  set  on  posts  a  foot  may  be  removed  easily. 


DffOP 


n 


n 


or  two  frorri  the  ground  to  be  out  of  the 
way  of  rats. 

The  floor  is  made  warm  by  having  it 
double  boarded  with  a  thickness  of  build- 
ing paper  between.  The  large  windows  of 
course  face  the  south  and  the  dust  boxes 
are  placed  immediately  in  front  of  them 
because  that  is  the  way  biddy  likes  to  take 
a  dust  bath.  She  wants  it  directly  in  the 
sunlight  if  possible. 

It  is  not  necessary  or  desirable  to  go  into 
a  little  house  like  this  very  often.  It  is 
so  small  that  the  presence  of  an  attendant 
frightens  the  hens  and  causes  a  disagree- 
able commotion.  B}'  proper  management, 
however,  they  can  usually  be  let  out  into 
the  yard  when  the  presence  of  an  attend- 
ant in  the  house  becomes  necessary.  The 
roosts  are  placed  over  the  nest  boxes  and 
the  entrance  to  the  nest  boxes  is  in  the 
rear.     The  nest  box  cover,  which  also  is 


/^/FOA/r  £-/,eKyfr/o/v 


This  is  just  the  kind  of  a  house  to  start 
a  boy  in  the  poultry  business.  Boys  take 
more  interest  in  a  small  poultry  house 
than  they  do  in  a  house  full  size. 


A  little  house  like  this  is  helped  out  ver}^ 
much  by  having  a  good  yard  in  which  con- 
siderable green  stuff  may  be  grown  for  the 
fowls  to  pick  at.  By  planting  a  little  grain 
and  a  variety  of  vegetables,  the  poultrv 
will  pick  up  a  good  deal  of  feed  and  the 
fowls  will  be  more  healthv  because  of  it. 


258 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


ELEVATED  CHICKEN  HOUSE— Ai  65 


This  plan  elevates  the  poultry  house 
about  fourteen  inches  above  the  ground 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  rats  from 


manure  is  used  considerable  heat  may  be 
generated. 

As  the  building  is  not  very  heavy  the 


making  nests  under  the  floor.  It  is  high 
enough  so  that  cats  and  dogs  can  have 
free  access  underneath  and  this  space  also 
ofTers  a  shady  protection  for  fowls  in  the 


sills  are  made  of  two  pieces  of  two  by  six, 
one  laid  flat  on  the  supporting  cedar  posts 
and  the  other  turned  edgewise  as  shown 
in  the  drawing. 


summer  time.  At  the  approach  of  cold  The  south  side  of  the  building  is  only 
weather  in  the  fall  this  space  is  boarded  four  feet  high  above  the  floor  and  the  win- 
up  and  manure  is  banked  against  the  dows  are  placed  well  down.  This  has  the 
boarding  to  keep  out  the  cold.     If  horse  advantage  in  the  winter  time  of  letting  the 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


259 


sun  shine  on  the  floor  where  the  chickens 
can  make  the  best  use  of  it. 

The  north  wall  is  six  feet  high  above  the 
floor  and  this  wall  is  made  tight  to  keep 


boards  on  the  lower  side  of  the  ceiling 
joists  about  two  inches  apart.  In  winter 
the  space  above  this  slatted  floor  is  filled 
in  with  straw  for  the  purpose  of  having 


out  the  cold.  A  partition  three  and  one- 
half  feet  from  the  north  side  of  the  house 
forms  an  alley  and  the  nests  are  placed 
against  this  partition  so  the  eggs  may  be 
gathered  without  going  into  the  henhouse 
proper.  The  nest  boxes  are  placed  high 
enough  above  the  floor  so  the  fowls  may 
use  the  space  under  them  for  scratching. 
The  nest  boxes  are  easily  removed  for 
cleaning  and  they  are  covered  with  a  steep 
slanting  roof  to  prevent  the  hens  from 
roosting  on  them. 

The  ceiling  in  this  house  is  an  important 
feature.     It  is  made  by  nailing  one  by  six 


good  ventilation  without  creating  a  draft. 
In  the  summer  time  the  straw  is  removed 
and  the  place  thoroughly  cleaned. 

For  further  ventilation  there  is  a  vent 
stack  in  each  end  of  the  building  which 
comes  down  to  within  a  few  inches  of  the 
floor.  These  ventilators  pasc  out  through 
the  roof  and  extend  above  the  highest 
point  and  are  capped  to  keep  out  the  rain. 
There  is  also  a  slide  near  the  bottom  to 
regulate  the  amount  of  air.  If  heavy  fowls 
are  kept  in  this  house  good  ladders  should 
be  provided  to  help  them  up  and  down  or 
they  may  get  bumble  foot. 


Ice  Houses  and  Cold  Storage 


ICE  FOR  COLD  STORAGE— A223 
Blue  Prints  Will  Cost,  $15.00 


ICE  is  still  the  most  economical  cooling 
medium  for  small  refrigerators.     Small 

automatic  ice  machines  are  in  use  but 
more  or  less  expert  supervision  is  neces- 
sary to  keep  them  in  working  order.  The 
advantages  of  direct  ice  cooling  are  sim- 
plicity and  comparative  economy,  but  the 
average  refrigerator  cooled  by  ice  will 
hardlv  give  a  temperature  below  45  or  40 
degrees  F  and  it  has  the  disadvantage  that 
the  air  is  too  damp  for  best  results.  Sen- 
sitive products  like  butter,  milk  and  eggs 
will  not  keep  well  in  a  moist  atmosphere. 

To  meet  the  difficulties  between  a  large 
extensive  refrigerator  plant  and  the  ordi- 
nary ice  cooled  refrigerator  Madison 
Cooper  has  invented  and  designed  what 
he  calls  the  "Gravity  Brine  System"  which 
will  produce  a  temperature  as  low  as  14 
degrees  F.  The  system  is  very  simple  and 
may  be  applied  to  a  very  small  plant  or  one 
of  considerable  dimensions. 

The  diagram  shows  the  principle  upon 
which  it  works.  In  the  small  plant  there 
is  an  insulated  box  or  tank  A  on  the  floor 
above  the  cooling  room.  In  this  box  is  a 
coil  of  pipe  which  reaches  down  below  into 
and  coiled  in  the  cold  room  B.  This  pipe 
coil  is  fdled  with  a  brine  solution  of  chlo- 
ride of  calcium.  The  tank  A  is  then  fdled 
with  a  mixture  of  crushed  or  broken  icet 
and  coarse  salt  which  cools  the  brine.  .\s 
cold  brine  is  heavier  than  warm  brine  it 
settles  in  the  i)ipcs  and  the  warmer  brine 


from 
its  pi 


below  rises  in  the  other  pipes  to  take 
ace.  This  keeps  up  a  constant  circu- 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


261 


lation  whereby  the  pipe  in  the  lower  room 
is  kept  cold  and  the  degree  of  cold  is  reg- 
ulated by  the  size  of  the  cold  storage  room, 
the  area  of  pipe  surface  and  the  amount  of 

■. 


to  40  degrees  above  zero.  Mr.  Cooper 
states  that  a  temperature  as  low  as  six  de- 
grees has  been  obtained. 

These  temperatures  of  course  are  suf- 


D 


salt  used  with  the  broken  or  crushed  ice. 
The  arrows  show  the  direction  in  which 
circulation  flows.  More  or  less  pipe  is  used 
in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  cubic  space 
to  be  cooled  and  the  temperature  main- 
tained. 


ficiently  low  for  all  cold  storage  and  freez- 
ing purposes  in  common  use.  In  fact,  thir- 
ty to  thirty-three  degrees  is  about  as  low 
as  is  required  for  ordinary  cold  storage. 

.  It  is  well  known  that  ice  forms  on  cold 
storage  pipes  when  the  temperature  is  be- 


..^o-  oX  .a  y -c>" 


Ice  and  salt  will  produce  a  temperature 
below  zero,  so  the  circulating  brine  may  be 
easily  cooled  to  five  or  ten  degrees  F, 
which,  when  the  pipes  are  properly  pro- 
portioned will  produce  a  temperature  in  a 
good,  well  built  storage  room  of  from  10 


<3 ©-<=><.  ^3:2-e=>' 


low  the  freezing  point  and  the  collection 
of  ice  not  only  interferes  with  the  proper 
cooling  process,  but  it  adds  dampness  and 
this  is  to  be  avoided  as  far  as  possible.  Mr. 
Cooper  uses  a  process  which  he  has  pat- 
ented called  the  chloride  of  calcium  pro- 


262 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


cess  for  preventing  frost  on  refrigerating 
surfaces  and  for  purifying  and  drying  the 
air  of  cold  storage  rooms.  This  process  is 
extremely  simple  and  consists  simply  of 
supporting  a  quantity  of  chloride  of  cal- 
cium in  the  lump  form  in  perforated 
troughs  or  gutters  above  the  cooling  pipes 
of  the  Gravity  Brine  System  in  the  cold 
storage  room  to  absorb  the  moisture  and 
carry  it  away. 

The  whole  cooling  system  apparently  is 
very  simple  and  it  looks  as  though  any 
careful  person  of  ordinary  intelligence 
without  special  mechanical  skill  could  look 
after  it  and  keep  it  in  good  condition.  This 
cooling  system  is  in  use  in  different  parts 
of  the  country  for  the  cold  storage  of  but- 
ter, cheese,  fruits,  eggs,  dressed  poultry, 
meats  and  for  the  manufacture  and  keep- 
ing of  ice  cream. 

Some  of  the  plants  have  different  rooms 
maintained  at  dififerent  temperatures. 
Some  have  fans  for  ventilating  purposes 
and  some  are  fitted  with  ice  crushing  ma- 
chines,   power   elevators,    electric   lights, 


etc.  It  seems  that  the  system  may  be  em- 
ployed to  advantage  for  very  small  plants 
or  for  very  large  ones  and  that  the  results 
are  equally  satisfactory. 

Farming  communities  within  easy  reach 
of  railway  stations  should  be  supplied  with 
a  cold  storage  plant,  and  this  plant  should 
be  under  the  management  of  a  committee 
of  farmers.  Then  it  would  not  be  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  ship  perishable  prod- 
ucts when  the  market  was  unfavorable. 

Cold  storage,  however,  is  a  business 
proposition  and  to  be  successful  it  must  be 
managed  on  business  principles. 

The  cuts  besides  illustrating  the  prin- 
ciple of  cold  storage  show  how  a  practical 
cold  storage  warehouse  may  be  built.  The 
ice  house  is  indicated  at  the  left  with  an 
ice  elevator  to  hoist  the  ice  into  the  build- 
ing from  the  cars.  There  is  a  plaform 
which  connects  the  two  buildings  so  the 
ice  may  be  conveniently  transferred  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  cold  storage  ware- 
house where  it  is  broken  up  by  machinery, 
mixed  with  salt  and  packed  in  the  coils. 


CHEAP  ICE  HOUSE— A222 


A  very  cheap  house  will  keep  ice.  All 
you  really  need  is  a  roof  to  keep  the  rain 
ofif  and  boarding  at  the  sides  to  hold  the 
sawdust  in  place.  If  you  put  up  a  cube  of 
ice  in  the  winter  time  ten  feet  in  diameter 
and  keep  it  covered  with  a  foot  of  sawdust 
all  around  you  will  have  ice  for  farm 
use  all  next  summer.  This  is  not  saying 
that  a  good,  well-built  ice  house  is  unnec- 
essary. The  idea  is  that  no  farmer  need 
do  without  ice  because  he  cannot  afiford 
an  expensive  ice  house. 

The  principle  of  keeping  ice  depends  in 
the  first  place  on  getting  quantity  enough 
together  to  maintain  a  low  temperature. 
then  the  drainage  must  be  sufficient  to  car- 
ry away  the  water  as  the  ice  melts  and 
drips.  In  the  third  place  you  must  keep 
the  air  away  from  it  which  may  be  done  by 
keeping  wet  sawdust  continually  close 
around  the  ice. 

You  can  set  up  four  poles,  nail  rough 
boards  on  the  inside,  leaving  a  foot  space 


all  around  the  ice  and  fill  this  space  with 
sawdust.  Then  if  you  have  a  roof  over  it 
that  will  turn  the  rain  you  can  have  ice  in 
hot  weather,  but  such  a  building  would  be 
an  eye-sore  on  the  farm  and  a  disgrace  to 
the  owner.  Because  you  build  cheap  you 
need  not  build  something  you  will  be 
ashamed  of  afterwards. 

This  little  ice  house  may  be  built  very 
easily  and  cheaply  and  it  will  look  right 
when  finished  and  prove  very  satisfactory. 
There  is  a  light  framework  of  two  by  fours 
boarded  on  the  outside  by  drop  siding.  The 
house  is  twelve  feet  square  and  is  twelve 
feet  high  to  the  plates.  The  rafters  are  tied 
together  by  collar  beams  placed  well  up  to 
leave  plenty  of  head  room.  You  will  need 
head  room  in  putting  in  the  top  courses  at 
filling  time.  You  can  board  up  the  inside 
or  not;  it  makes  but  little  difference.  It  is 
better  to  put  the  house  in  the  shade  of  a 
large  tree,  or  on  the  north  side  of  a  build- 
ing, but  drainage  is  more  important  than 


i 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


263 


shade.  If  the  drainage  is  not  good  nat- 
urally, put  in  tiling.  Fill  above  the  tiling 
with  cinders  and  put  a  foot  of  sawdust  on 
top  of  the  cinders.  Don't  use  straw  if  you 
can  help  it  because  it  rots.  Pine  sawdust  is 
the  best  if  you  can  get  it. 

Fill  the  house  in  January  or  February. 


the  ice  a  foot  or  two  in  depth  on  top.  Then 
as  the  warm  weather  comes  on  in  spring 
climb  in  on  top  of  the  sawdust  about  once 
a  week  just  to  see  that  there  are  no  cracks 


'k — 


/:2-0 


JJ 


/=*^^/V  /7/Ki?  £rA^/^/77'/0/V  0/=-  /C^  //OC/^^ 


Throw  water  over  the  ice  cold  nights  so  it 
will  all  freeze  solid  together,  then  in  March 
put  on  the  sawdust,  filling  in  between  the 
ice  and  the  sides  of  the  house  and  cover 


made  by  settling  that  will  let  in  the  air  to 
melt  the  ice.  Your  summer  supply  may 
depend  on  packing  the  sawdust  a  few 
times  during  March  and  April. 


LARGER  ICE  HOUSE— A224 


Where  a  large  number  of  cows  are  kept 
and  a  large  quantity  of  ice  is  needed  in  the 
dairy  every  day  in  summer  it  will  pay  to 
put  considerable  expense  on  the  ice  house. 
The  cooler  and  better  the  house  the  more 
economically  you  can  keep  ice.  One  build- 
er even  recommended  one  air  space  after 
another  up  to  seven  separate  air  spaces  in 
order  to  prevent  heat  from  striking 
through  to  warm  the  interior  of  the  house. 

The  ice  house  should  be  nearly  square 
because  the  ice  keeps  better  when  it  is  in 
one  compact  mass.  In  starting  to  build  as 
good  an  ice  house  as  this  one  it  pays  to  put 
quite  a  bit  of  work  on  the  foundation.   Ice 


melts  in  the  best  houses  and  you  must  take 
care  of  the  drip.  This  plan  provides  for  a 
course  of  tiling  all  around  the  outer  wall 
and  a  course  of  cross  tiling  every  four  feet, 
the  cross  tiles  connecting  with  the  outside 
tile  and  all  empty  in  the  one  outlet  through 
a  trap  at  the  lower  corner. 

No  earth  is  put  back  into  the  excavation, 
but  the  tiles  are  covered  with  coarse  cin- 
ders, cinders  that  have  been  raked  over 
and  only  the  hard  burned  parts  used.  If 
the  cinders  are  too  fine  for  a  rake,  use  a 
screen,  but  manage  some  way  to  keep  the 
ashes  out.  Sometimes  the  ashes  pack  down 
and  hold  water  like  cement. 


a64 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


The  house  is  sixteen  by  twenty  feet  and 
the  wall  is  four  inches  larger  each  way. 
The  sills  are  made  of  two  by  eight  double 
and  are  laid  flatways  on  the  wall  in  soft 
cement.  The  wall  is  also  smooth  up  to 
the  sill  on  the  inside  with  cement  neatly 
troweled  around. 

Two  by  four  studding  is  set  flush  with 
the  inside  of  the  sill.  Building  paper  is  put 


^■e-)^  i<  1^ 


on  the  outside  of  these  and  another  set  of 
two  by  four  studding  set  against  them  out- 
side of  the  paper.  In  this  way  a  wall  eight 
inches  thick  is  made  with  paper  partition 
in  the  center. 

The  wall  is  then  finished  with  paper  and 
siding  outside  and  with  paper  and  siding 
inside,  put  on  as  carefully  as  possible  and 
made  as  nearly  air  tight  as  good  material 
and  good  workmanship  can  make  it.  The 
paper  and  boarding  is  lapped  over  on  the 
sill  at  the  bottom  and  on  the  plate  at  the 
top  so  that  the  sides  of  the  building  are 
completely  insulated  from  the  sill  to  the 
ceiling. 

"The  ceiling  is  made  with  two  by  six 
joists    and    matched    boarding    laid    with 


paper  like  a  floor  on  top  and  another 
matched  boarding  nailed  like  a  ceiling 
with  paper  on  the  under  side,  the  paper 
being  tacked  to  the  joists  both  above  and 
below.  Paper  also  is  used  on  the  rough 
boards  under  the  shingles  and  a  good  ven- 
tilator is  provided  to  keep  the  air  moving 
in  the  attic. 

Because  of  the  ceiling  it  is  more  work 


^ <::'-'<:> 


7^/:,^/^ 


to  put  in  the  ice  when  you  get  near  to  the 
top,  but  an  ice  room  built  in  this  way  is  a 
refrigerator  in  itself  and  it  will  save  ice 
enough  to  pay  for  a  little  inconvenience  at 
time  of  filling.  The  doors  fasten  in  front 
like  refrigerator  doors.  They  are  built 
like  the  sides  of  the  house  with  air  spaces 
and  are  made  to  fit  tight  in  the  jambs.  All 
doors  and  door  frames  must  be  made  of 
kiln  dry  material  and  filled  to  resist  mois- 
ture. There  is  no  floor,  the  sawdust  just 
rests  on  the  cinders,  and  the  ice  rests  on 
the  sawdust  which  should  be  at  least  a  foot 
deep  on  top  of  the  cinders. 


TWO  HUNDRED  TON  ICE  HOUSE—  A228 


An  ice  house  to  hold  two  hundred  tons 
of  ice  is  given  in  this  ])lan.  This  ice  house 
was  built  on  a  large  dairy  farm  near  a 
good  sized  village.  Some  seasons  the 
farmer  sells  considerable  ice  to  the  village 
at  paying  prices. 

The  building  is  twenty  feet  wide  by 
thirty  feet  long  and  sixteen  feet  high  to 
the  eaves.  When  completely  filled  it 
would  hold  about  two  hundred  and  twen- 
tv-five  tons. 


The  exterior  is  finished  with  drop  sid- 
ing and  a  stained  shingle  roof.  Next  to 
the  siding  is  a  layer  of  building  paper,  in- 
side of  this  and  nailed  to  the  outside  row 
of  two  by  four  studding  is  matched  ceiling 
of  good  quality.  Then  comes  a  dead  air 
space  four  inches  thick.  Next  is  a  layer  of 
hair  felt  seven-eighths  of  an  inch  thick 
nailed  to  the  inner  edges  of  the  four-inch 
studding;  inside  the  hair  felt  is  another 
matched  ceiling  of  narrow  pine  sheathing, 


I 


o 
o 

b 

i 

5 


366 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


then  another  row  of  two  by  four  studding 
hned  on  the  inside  again  with  another 
boarding  of  matched  pine  sheathing,  then 
an  inch  of  block  mineral  wool,  and  this  is 
protectedonthe  insidewith  anotherboard- 
ing  of  matched  soft  pine  sheathing  nailed 
to  furring  strips.  All  this  work  is  very 
carefully  done  to  prevent  so  far  as  possible 
the  slightest  air  connection  between  the 
different  spaces.  It  is  recognized  that  a 
dead  air  space  is  the  best  possible  non- 
conductor of  heat  or  cold. 

There  are  six  doors  and  they  are  just 
as  carefully  made  as  the  siding.  The  de- 
tail drawing  shows  how  they  are  fitted. 
Inside  of  the  doors  the  opening  is  further 
closed  and  sealed  by  a  double  thickness 
of  loose  inch  boards,  which  fit  into  the 
grooves  and  are  laid  to  break  joints. 
These  boards  are  put  in  place  as  the  filling 


proceeds  and  are  taken  out  one  .it  a  time 
as  the  ice  lowers  in  €ummer. 

The  ceiling  over  the  ice  is  just  as  care- 
fully constructed  as  other  parts  of  the 
building  and  the  space  over  the  ceiling  is 
kept  cool  by  a  ventilator  in  each  gable  end 
and  another  ventilator  in  the  roof. 

All  these  details  are  very  important  but 
they  are  not  more  important  than  the  cov 
ering  for  the  ice,  which  should  be  of  saw 
dust  if  possible  to  get  it. 

An  interesting  feature  of  this  house  is 
the  simple  elevator  to  be  used  in  filling. 
It  is  a  double  gig  elevator  so  arranged 
that  one  gig  goes  up  as  the  horse  walks 
in  one  direction,  and  as  the  horse  walks 
in  the  other  direction  the  first  gig  lowers 
and  the  second  one  goes  up.  Perhaps  this 
is  the  quickest  arrangement  made  for  the 
purpose,  considering  its  simplicity. 


REFRIGERATOR  ICE  HOUSE— A118 


An  ice  house  with  a  cold  storage  room 
is  shown  in  plan  (A118).  The  walls  are 
built  hollow  with  paper  inside  and  out. 

In  the  cold  storage  department  there 
are  several  thicknesses  of  paper  in  the  in- 


possibility  of  doing  it.  There  is  sure  to 
be  a  crack  somewhere  to  let  the  air 
through,  but  this  plan  probably  comes  as 
near  to  it  as  is  necessary. 

When  an  ice  house  is  made  as  tight  as 


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— 1 

y^/roA/r  £ri.£:y/jr/o/\/ 


sccr/oA/ 


ner  wall  to  make  the  dead  air  space  as  this  it  is  necessary  to  let  the  top  air  out. 

tight  as  possible.    If  you  have  ever  under-  For  this  reason  a  ventilator  is  built  in  the 

taken  to  make  an  absolutely  dead  air  space  roof  to  encourage  a  circulation  of  air  be- 

you  understand  the  difficulty,  or  the  im-  tween  the  upper  ceiling  and  the  shingles. 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


26 


In  this  arrangement  the  cold  storage  de- 
partment is  supplied  with  ice  as  needed 
by  putting  in  a  quantity,  say  once  a  week. 


borhood  and  it  will  pay  to  read  up  on  cold 
storage  before  you  start  in.  If  it  is  made 
just  right  it  will  be  a  great  comfort  and 


PIBNS    OF  /c/:  f/OUSC 


The  construction  of  an  ice  house  like 
this  requires  good  workmanship.  You 
will  need  the  best  mechanic  in  the  neigh- 


satisfaction,  but  if  it  is  not  made  right  it 
will  cause  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  he  a 
continuous  annoyance. 


Miscellaneous 
Farm    Buildings 


IMPLEMENT  SHED— Ai 48 


AN  implement  shed  sixteen  feet  wide  by 
forty-eight  feet  long  is  given  in  plan 
(A  148).  This  shed  really  is  built  in  six- 
teen foot  sections  and  may  be  carried  to 
any  length,  but  this  size  will  hold  the  im- 
plements and  machinery  on  an  ordinary 
farm  and  leave  room  at  one  end  for  a  work 
bench  and  repair  shop. 

The  front  is  all  doors  so  that  any  part 


casionally  invite  the  women  to  help  get  a 
grain  drill  out  from  behind  harrows, 
plows,  cultivators  and  other  machinery. 
One  reason  why  farm  machinery  is  neg- 
lected is  because  farmers  have  no  place  to 
keep  it.  It  is  not  repaired  when  it  should 
be  for  the  same  reason.  It  is  quite  a  job 
to  do  a  simple  piece  of  repair  work  if  you 
haven't  the  tools  or  the  room  in  which  to 


£:lcj^/it/oa 


of  the  shed  may  be  opened  and  any  imple- 
ment removed  without  the  work  of  getting 
it  past  some  of  the  others.  We  have  all 
had  experience  in  crowded  quarters  for 
farm  machinery.  We  have  been  obliged 
to    call    all    the    men    together    and    oc- 


do  it,  but  anybody  can  clean  up  machinery 
and  oil  or  paint  it  if  they  have  a  comfort- 
able place  to  work  and  the  tools  to  work 
with. 

The  front  part  of  this  shed  is  built  high- 
er than  the   back  part  in  order  to  leave 


368 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


269 


head  room.  If  you  want  to  get  in  with  a 
binder  with  the  reel  on,  or  to  house  a 
threshing  machine  or  traction  engine  you 
need  about  ten  feet  to  the  top  of  the  doors, 


in  the  detail  drawing  are  intended  for  the 
end  bents  only. 

In  the  end  of  the  shed  most  convenient 
a  good  solid  bench  should  be  rigged  up 


rooL  3//£D 


but  you  don't  need  so  much  height  to  the 
back  end.  The  doors  in  this  plan  are  ten 
feet  high  and  the  cross  girts  are  the  same 
height  because  it  is  sometimes  necessary 
to  move  the  machines  lengthwise  of  the 
shed  and  the  same  head  room  is  then  need- 
ed. A  truss  is  formed  at  each  bent  with 
the  rafters  to  prevent  the  building  from 
spreading.  The  two  by  four  nailers  shown 


and  fitted  with  a  good  vise.  At  the  back 
of  this  bench  there  should  be  a  long  low 
window  similar  to  those  used  in  black- 
smith shops  all  over  the  country.  The 
bench  should  be  heavy,  solid  and  at  least 
three  feet  wide.  There  should  be  a  good 
floor  especially  in  the  bench  end  of  the 
building  and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  put  up  a 
chimnev  and  have  a  stove  there. 


OPEN  VEHICLE  SHED— A221 


A  shelter  for  vehicles  in  this  case  is 
provided  by  a  row  of  posts  covered  by 
a  protecting  roof,  braced  as  shown  in 
the  drawings.  It  is  necessary  to  brace  a 
building  of  this  kind  and  as  bracing  near 
the  ground  would  be  very  much  in  the 
way  this  form  of  truss  work  has  been 
adopted. 

Eight  by  eight  wooden  posts  are  set  in 
a  double  row  sixteen  feet  apart  both  ways, 
thus  forming  a  series  of  bays  sixteen  feet 
square.  The  wooden  posts  are  set  in  con- 
crete abutments  twenty  inches  square  and 
four  feet  high  set  in  the  ground  from 
three  and  one-half  to  four  feet  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  sfround. 


These  abutments  are  made  by  filling 
the  holes,  which  are  dug  the  exact  size, 
with  concrete  tamped  in  in  the  usual  way, 
but  the  tops  are  made  uniform  and  bev- 
eled as  shown  by  the  use  of  a  box  form 
hinged  at  one  corner  and  fastened  with 
a  hasp  and  staple  at  the  corner  diagonally 
opposite. 

The  holes  are  filled  in  about  a  foot  deep 
with  concrete,  then  the  wooden  posts  are 
set  up  carefully  and  plumbed  and  stay- 
lathed  to  keep  them  in  position.  Then  the 
concrete  is  filled  in  around  them  and  the 
abutments  carried  a  foot  or  so  above 
ground  to  form  a  hub  guard. 

The  drawing  shows  a  shed  with  five 


270 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


of  these  sixteen  foot  compartments,  but 
fewer  can  be  used  if  a  smaller  shed  is 
required,  and  the  building  would  look  al- 
right when  finished. 


The  entrance  at  the  ends  is  twelve  feet 
high,  which  will  permit  driving  in  with  a 
load  of  hay  or  sheaves.  A  shed  built  like 
this  would  work  well  as  a  stock  shelter. 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


a^i 


SMALL  WAGON  SHED— A108 


A  wagon  shed  twenty  feet  wide  and 
forty  feet  long  like  the  one  in  the  plan 
illustrated,  is  a  useful  building  on  every 
farm.  One  thing  is  important  about  a 
wagon  shed,  and  that  is  to  have  the  en- 
trance wide  enough  to  get  things  in  and 
out  easily  and  quickly.    This  double  door 


Implement  sheds  like  all  other  buildings 
should  be  designed  for  what  is  to  be  re- 
quired of  them.  An  implement  shed  is  a 
necessity  on  every  farm,  but  some  farmers 
want  to  house  threshing  machines  and 
traction  engines,  while  others  want  a  shed 
to    hold    mowers,    plows,    cultivators,    a 


<s£:cT/o/v 

gives  an  opening  ten  feet  wide,  which  is 
very  good  for  small  implements,  but  some 
binders  require  about  sixteen.  The  door 
entering  an  implement  shed  must  be  high 
enough  to  let  in  the  highest  implements 
used  on  the  farm,  and  there  must  be  no 
cross  timbers  inside  lower  than  the  top  of 
the  door.  A  binder  with  a  reel  on  takes 
considerable  room. 

The  farmer  building  the  shed  will  know 
whether  he  wants  to  house  a  binder  under 
full  sail  or  whether  he  wants  to  take  it 
apart,  and  will,  of  course,  build  a  doorway 
accordingly. 


wagon  or  two,  and  perhaps  a  few  barrels 
and  other  truck.  A  large  building,  of 
course,  would  answer  for  everything,  but 
it  is  not  necessary  to  build  bigger  than  a 
man  wants. 

A  good  many  tool  houses  are  built  with- 
out floors,  but  the  extra  cost  of  the  floor 
is  more  than  ofifset  by  the  dryness  and 
freedom  from  rust  on  the  machinery. 
Wagons  and  machinery  require  repairing, 
which  is  easily  done  in  a  building  like  this 
when  you  have  a  good  floor  to  work  on. 
Odd  days  in  winter  may  be  profitably 
spent  in  such  a  building  with  a  few  car- 
penter's tools,  a  paint  brush  and  an  assort- 
ment of  paints  and  oils. 


CHEAP  HOG  HOUSE— Ai  22 


The  cheapest  kind  of  a  hog  house  is 
shown  in  plan  (A122.)  It  is  only  seven 
feet  six  inches  wide,  but  it  may  be  any 
length.  This  house  is  thirty-one  feet  six 
inches  long  because  this  length  is  covered 
by  two  sixteen  foot  joists.  Even  on  well 
regulated  hog  farms  where  there  is  a  good 
solid  hog  house  this  shed  afifair  will  be 
found  useful  to  hold  the  overflow.  It  of- 
ten happens  that  shoats  in  fall  are  kept 
in  a  muddy  feed  lot  or  sold  too  soon  for 


lack  of  just  such  shelter  as  this  to  hold 
them  while  being  finished.  Beginners  in 
the  hog  business  could  not  do  better  than 
to  build  a  little  cheap  hog  house  like  this 
to  start  with. 

The  seven  and  one-half  foot  width  per- 
mits of  roofing  the  shed  with  sixteen  foot 
boards  cut  in  two  in  the  middle.  Each  six- 
teen foot  section  will  make  two  pens  near- 
ly eight  feet  square  which  will  hold  from 
five  to  seven  or  eight  pigs  according  to 


97* 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


size.  The  posts  are  just  set  into  the 
ground  and  the  floor  raised  about  a  foot 
to  keep  it  dry.     Four  two  by  six  joists  run 


back  so  a  scraper  may  be  used.  In  cold 
weather  this  space  is  closed  by  a  hinged 
board  which  drops  down  on  the  inside. 
This  precaution  is  necessary  because  a  cold 


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1 

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'4/Cftf/»f  ^osr-t — r 


/=>l,/7A/  /7A/0  ^£Cr/OA/  OF  //OG   /yoaS£' 


lengthwise  of  the  building  and  the  floor 
boards  run  crosswise  and  slant  back  for 
easy  cleaning.  A  space  is  left  between 
the  floor  boards  and  the  boarding  at  the 


draft  on  the  floor  is  a  very  bad  thing  for 
hogs.  This  little  hog  house  don't  run  in- 
to very  much  money  but  it  is  a  very  use- 
ful, practical  affair. 


HOG  HOUSE— Aiog 

In  building  a  hog  house  it  is  necessary  sirable  to  select  out  one  or  two  from  cer- 
to  consider  convenience  in  getting  the  tain  pens.  That  is  the  time  when  the  al- 
hogs  in  and  out,  to  provide  means  for  load-     ley  door  will   be  appreciated.       Another 


^rcr/OA/  OF  HOC  //ocs^r 


mg  them  into  wagons  and  a  place  for  heat- 
ing water  and  to  do  the  work  of  killing. 
This  plan  offers  an  opportunity  to  back  a 
wagon  up  to  the  rear  door  for  loading  and 
a  room  in  the  front  end  away  from  the 
pens  is  arranged  for  a  feed  room  and 
slaughter  house. 

Provision  is  made  for  removing  hogs 
from  one  pen  to  another  by  having  cleats 
in  the  alley  for  holding  sliding  doors. 

Hogs  thrive  better  when  animals  of  the 
same  size  are  penned  together.  Some  grow 
faster  than  others  and  it  is  sometimes  de- 


It jr^J^- ^ 

riOO/?   /=>£/? A/   OF  //OG  //0(/S£ 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


273 


good  thing  about  this  hog  house  is  the 
swinging  front  of  the  pens  which  swings 
back  over  the  trough  and  prevents  inter- 
ference when  putting  in  the  feed.  The 
partitions  next  to  the  feed  room  run  to 
the  ceiling  but  the  partitions  between  the 
pens  are  only  four  feet  high. 


There  is  no  cornice  to  the  roof.  The 
openings  above  the  plates  between  the 
rafters  are  left  for  ventilation.  This  hog 
house  will  accommodate  about  forty  hogs. 
From  six  to  eight  in  a  pen  are  enough,  if 
more  are  housed  together  they  pile  up  and 
smother  each  other. 


HOG  HOUSE  AND  CORN  CRIB— A140 

Hogs  and  corn  may  both  be  kept  in  the  in  the  usual  way  with  an  alley  between, 
same  house  economically  by  building  a  The  floor  above  to  hold  the  corn  slants 
house  like  the  one  shown  in  plan  (A140).     each  way  from  the  center.     There  is  about 


I^a/s^-zv 


^ 


^. 


I    I 
lJ 


I    I 

L  J 


L  J 


\Xf\i^<r£-o/i/f'  ^os^i 


L  J 


L  J 


^/Z7£     EL£t^/9T/OA/ 


The  building  is  set  up  from  the  ground     seven  feet  head  room  in  the  middle  over 
about  a  foot  on  posts  and  pens  are  made     the  alley  and  the  floor  slopes  to  about  five 


274 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


feet  to  the  sides  of  the  building.  This  is 
for  two  reasons,  to  get  the  corn  down  as 
low  as  possible  and  to  divide  it  into  two 
parts  to  prevent  moulding.     It  is  also  nec- 


bottom  outside  holds  the  door  shut  when 

it  is  desirable  to  keep  the  hogs  confined. 

Because  of  the  shape  of  the  corn  floor 

it  is  necessary  to  support  it  well  in  the  cen- 


Lj  lj 


jfA^/?  ^A/T/r^r/o/i/ 


essary  to  put  a  slatted  partition  on  both 
sides  of  the  floor  ridge  if  the  house  is  filled 
full  of  corn.  There  are  two  windows  in 
each  end  and  the  hog  doors  are  hung  with 
pins  so  they  swing  either  way  and  the  hogs 
open  them  going  or  coming.  A  pin  at  the 


ter  which  is  done  by  running  the  alley  par- 
titions up  to  the  floor  joists  above.  This 
is  very  important  because  the  weight  of 
the  corn  will  shove  the  sides  of  the  build- 
ing out  if  the  floor  is  permitted  to  settle. 


DOUBLE  CORN  CRIB— A105 

An  old  fashioned  style  double  corn  crib     both  cribs  is  shown  in  plan  (A105).  This 
with  a  drive  between  and  a  roof  to  cover    crib  is  set  on  cedar  posts  planted  three 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


275 


and  one-half  feet  in  the  ground  and  set  up 
two  and  one-half  feet  above  ground  to  be 
out  of  the  way  of  mice  and  rats.  The  space 


■s/rcr/OA/  o^  aovsif  co/?/v  c/?//3 


between  the  two  cribs  makes  a  convenient 
place  to  store  a  couple  of  wagons.  The 
doors  being  at  the  end,  the  center  space  is 
left  free  for  this  purpose.  A  good  many 
cribs  built  on  this  plan  have  the  doors  in- 
side opening  from  the  center  passage,  but 
if  the  space  is  desirable  for  wagon  storage 


the  doors  are  built  at  the  end  as  shown. 
The  storage  room  overhead  will  be  found 
useful  on  any  farm. 


O/f/J^/T  /tOFY 


r-o"- )^-^i.o—. 


ANOTHER  DOUBLE  CORN  CRIB— Ai  20 


A  double  corn  crib  with  a  storage  room 
overhead  and  a  driveway  in  the  center  is 
shown  in  the  illustration.  A  peculiar 
feature  of  this  plan  is  the  siding  which  is 


ripped  out  it  is  run  through  a  sticker  to 
give  the  curve  as  shown  in  the  detail  draw- 
ing. This  is  an  extra  protection  against 
beating  storms  and  it  is  supposed  to  en- 


split  from  two  by  fours  with  a  band  saw 
in  such  a  way  as  to  get  three  pieces  of 
siding  from  one  strip.  After  the  siding  is 


J'/Z^f  si£^/7r/o/^ 


courage  a  draft  of  fresh  air  up  through 
each  opening  for  the  benefit  of  the  corn. 
The  strips  are  nearly  an  inch  thick  on  the 


276 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


lower  edge  making  them  strong  enough  corn  than  to  hang  it  by  wires  from  the 
to  hold  the  corn  by  being  well  nailed  witn  collar  beams.  The  tin  pans  turned  upside- 
wire  nails  on  the  outside  of  the  studding     down  over  the  tops  of  the  cedar  posts  will 


0£:TmL  or  ^fo/A/<p 


which  is  placed  twenty-four  inches  apart. 
It  is  impossible  to  get  corn  enough  in  a 
crib  of  this  height  to  break  the  slats  or 
shove  them  out.  Corn  cribs  should  not 
be  more  than  six  feet  wide  because  corn 
will  mould  in  a  crib  that  is  too  wide. 

The  driveway  in  the  center  of  a  crib 
like  this  is  very  useful.  There  is  room 
for  a  wagon  or  two  and  there  may  be  pegs 
to  hang  a  great  many  farm  implements 
such  as  neck-yokes,  extra  whififle-trees, 
chains  and  hand  tools  of  all  kinds.  The 
loft  overhead  makes  good  storage  for  lum- 
ber and  there  is  no  better  place  for  seed 


^i,  /7A/  or  CO/f/V  C/f/B. 


bother  the  rats  most  of  the  time,  although 
they  sometimes  find  a  way  to  get  in.  Prob- 
ably carelessness  in  leaning  something 
against  the  crib  helps  them  up  in  the  ma- 
jority of  cases.  Rats  and  mice  are  often 
carried  in  the  crib  with  the  corn.  They 
are  sharp  enough  to  get  into  a  bushel  crate 
and  stay  there  until  they  are  carried  in- 
side. In  this  way  a  farmer  often  populates 
his  own  corn  crib  with  rats  or  mice  with- 
out intending  to. 


ROUND  CORN    CRIB— A142 


So  far  as  the  size  is  concerned  there  is 
more  room  in  a  round  corn  crib  than  in 
any  other  shape  made  with  the  same 
amount  of  material.  The  building  is  eas- 
ily constructed  because  it  is  all  plain 
straight  work  and  it  is  rat  proof  because 
it  is  set  up  twc  feet  from  the  ground  on 
cement  posts. 

The  posts  are  made  by  digging  holes  in 
the  ground  three  and  one-half  feet  deep 
and  about  eight  inches  in  diameter. 
Lengths  of  eight  inch  pipe  made  of  galvan- 


ized iron  are  used  to  carry  the  cement  two 
feet  above  the  ground.  Before  commenc- 
ing it  is  necessary  to  strike  a  common 
level  at  the  surface  of  the  ground  so  that 
when  the  pipes  arc  all  set  up  the  tops  of 
them  will  be  the  same  height.  The  post 
above  the  ground  and  the  post  under- 
ground should  all  be  made  at  the  same 
time  so  that  the  cement  will  unite  into 
one  solid  post. 

The  floor  plan  shows  the  way  the  joists 
are  laid  and  the  circles  represent  the  giits 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


277 


to  which  the  1x4  upright  pieces  are  nailed. 
As  the  crib  is  sixteen  feet  in  diameter  it 
is  necessary  to  have    a    ventilator    in  the 


ways,  either  by  using  thin  stuff  and  nail- 
ing one  layer  upon  the  other,  breaking 
joints,  or  they  may  be  ripped  out  of  two 


....  I     I  '    ;  '     : 

I      I  .      I  )      (  '      '         ' 

1.  -J    u.  J  L.J  1_.J    L  .J 

or- 

/fO(/A^a    CO/TA/    C/f/B 

middle.  Ordinarily  it  is  not  advisable  to 
have  a  body  of  corn  more  than  six  or  seven 
feet  in  diameter.  By  making  the  inner 
circle  three  feet  we  have  six  and  one-half 


feet  between  the  inner  strips  and  the  outer 
strips  and  as  there  is  no  floor  over  the 
joists  in  the  center  the  air  can  pass  up 
through  the  three  foot  ventilator  easily. 
The  round  girts  may  be  made  in  two 


00/?   /^L/7A/ 
or 
/fOl//VD   CO/?N    C/^/3 

inch  planks.  If  ripped  out  of  planks  a 
single  saw-cut  through  each  piece  of  plank 
will  shape  the  sections,  cut  as  shown  in 
the  diagram.  Use  two  inch  plank  ten 
inches  wide  cut  to  four  foot  lengths.  Make 
segments  enough  to  build  up  all  the  girts 
necessary  by  ripping  the  short  planks 
lengthwise  through  the  middle,  then  rip 


-/.  o- 


D£:T/f/LS  or/foc//]//?  co/?a/  C/?/3 


again  on  the  curved  line.  The  finished 
girts  are  about  4x4^  inches.  There  is 
very  little  waste.  The  roof  is  supporter^ 
by  a  similar  girt  and  this  upper  girt  or 
plate  is  supported  by  extending  some  of 


27® 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


the  one  by  four  pieces  above  the  others 
as  shown  in  the  drawing.  These  exten- 
sion strips  may  be  doubled  or  two  by  fours 
used  at  these  places.  The  crib  is  twelve 
feet  high  to  the  plate.  An  air  space  is 
left  all  around  and  this  air  space  is  big 
enough  to  shovel  corn  through.  Of  course 
the  corn  is  put  in  at  the  door  and  at  the 
opposite  window  until  the  crib  is  pretty 
well  filled. 

The  roof  itself  is  a  very  simple  affair. 


It  is  supported  by  the  plate  and  the  ven- 
tilator shaft.  The  roof  boards  are  12  feet 
long  and  cut  1 1  inches  at  the  wide  end  and 
I  inch  at  the  upper  end  or  narrow  end. 
These  boards  are  nailed  in  place  and  the 
cracks  battened.  The  center  is  easily  filled 
in  with  sheet  of  galvanized  iron  having  a 
cut  reaching  from  one  edge  to  the  center. 
Such  a  roof  if  kept  painted  will  last  a  long 
time.  It  is  very  light,  cheap  and  easily 
made. 


SINGLE  CORN  CRIB— A106 

Sometimes  a  single  corn  crib  is  prefer-  full  of  holes  to  help  the  ventilation  but 
able  to  a  double  one.  The  corn  keeps  bet-  this  lets  the  shelled  corn  through  and  as 
ter  in  a  single  crib  because  the  air  circu-     dirt   settles  at  the  bottom   the  holes  get 


.// 


lates  all  around.  Sometimes  corn  will 
mould  in  the  center,  even  in  a  good  crib 
that  is  properly  constructed  and  not  too 
wide.     Sometimes  farmers  bore  the  floor 


easily  covered  over,  and  it  is  doubtful  if 
they  help  very  much.  A  better  plan  is  to 
have  the  sides  carefully  constructed  and 
to  have  the  corn  in  a  good  condition  when 
it  is  put  in  crib.  A  crib  built  after  this 
plan  may  be  any  length  but  the  posts 
should  not  be  more  than  eight  feet  apart. 


CHEAP  SMOKE  HOUSE— A149 

It  is  not  necessary  to  do  without  a 
smoke  house  on  a  farm.  A  small  build- 
ing that  will  answer  the  purpose  may  be 
had  with  very  little  outlay.  The  plan 
(A149)  shows  a  little  wooden  smoke  house 
eight  by  ten  feet  with  sides  eight  feet  high. 
It  is  big  enough  to  hold  as  many  hams 
and  shoulders  as  farmers'  families  usually 


rccjuire  with  once  filling,  but  it  is  an  easy 
matter  to  fill  the  house  the  second  time 
if  you  have  the  meat. 

This  little  house  requires  no  frame  work 
at  all.  All  you  need  is  a  four  by  four  for 
sills  and  a  two  by  four  for  plates  and  some 
more  two  by  fours  for  rafters.  You  can 
even  dispense  with  the  rafters,  except  the 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


279 


two  end  pairs,  if  you  want  to  make  a  board 
roof.  It  is  better  however  to  make  a  good 
shingle  roof,  then  you  have  something 
that  will  last  as  long  as  you  want  it.     For 


^L^y-/1T/0/V 


enough  to  keep  the  meat  in  after  being 
smoked.  It  is  better  to  wrap  it  in  paper, 
then  roll  it  up  in  thin  cotton  and  sew  it 


T'O 


■A 


i 

"■ 

1 

; 

t 

.0 

0 

\- 

^^                ^^ 

^ 

/='Z./fA/  or  FLOOff 


boarding  you  just  take  sixteen  foot  boards 
and  cut  them  in  two  in  the  middle.  For 
the  front  and  back  use  twelve  foot  lumber 
and  the  waste  pieces  work  in  for  roof 
boards  if  shingles  are  used. 

A  smoke   house   like   this   is   not   tight 


up.  You  musn't  leave  a  place  for  a  fly  to 
crawl  in.  You  must  then  hang  the  pack- 
ages with  strings,  perfectly  free.  They 
must  not  touch  each  other  and  they  must 
not  touch  anything  else.  They  need  a  cool 
place  but  not  damp. 


CEMENT  BLOCK  SMOKE  HOUSE— A147 


Every  farm  should  have  a  smoke  house, 
the  better  the  house  the  more  satisfactory 
will  be  the  meat.  The  plans  shown  of 
(A147)  is  for  a  house  constructed  of  ce- 
ment blocks.  It  should  be  placed  conveni- 
ently near  the  house  on  a  raise  of  ground 
and  a  foundation  started  below  the  frost 
line.  A  trench  should  be  dug,  say  3/^  feet 
deep  partly  filled  with  concrete  made  of 
one  part  of  Portland  cement,  two  and  one- 
half  parts  sand  and  five  parts  of  broken 
stone  or  gravel,  ramming  or  puddling  care- 
fully. If  plenty  sand  may  be  conveniently 
had,  it  would  be  a  good  plan  to  secure  a 
block  machine  and  have  the  blocks  made 
on  the  ground.  In  making  the  concrete 
blocks,  use  a  mixture  of  one  part  Port- 
land    cement,  two     and     one-half     parts 


sand  and  five  parts  of  crushed  stone  or 
gravel.  The  use  of  crushed  stone  or 
coarse  material  for  the  back  of  the  block 
saves  a  great  deal  of  cement  and  at  the 
same  time  gives  a  much  better  block  than 
where  sand  and  cement  alone  are  used. 
Blocks  made  of  sand  and  cement  alone 
and  merely  dampened  are  not  concrete 
blocks,  but  on  the  contrary  are  simply  sand 
blocks.  The  very  term  of  concrete  sug- 
gests coarse  material  and  plenty  of  water. 
Great  care  should  be  taken  in  mixing  the 
different  aggregates  and  they  should  be 
mixed  thoroughly  dry  and  after  they  have 
been  thoroughly  mixed  add  water.  After 
the  blocks  have  been  made  they  should 
be  set  aside  to  be  cured,  and  while  cur- 
ing, they  should  be  sprayed  thoroughly 


28o 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


from  seven  to  ten  days.  This  spraying 
should  commence  about  twelve  hours  after 
the  block  has  been  made.  Blocks  should 
never  be  used  in  building  until  they  are 
from  twenty  to  thirty  days  old. 

Farm  cured  meats  are  a  great  luxury  if 
the  hogs  are  properly  grown  on  pasture. 


very  carefully.  The  frame  must  have  a 
couple  of  ridges  all  round  and  cement 
worked  in  tight  between  these  ridges  to 
make  tight  joints.  The  ventilator  on  top 
must  be  fitted  with  a  fine  screen.  Two 
screens  would  be  better.  A  coarse  galvan- 
ized screen  on  top  and  a  fine  screen  inside 
at  the  bottom. 

The  plates  and  rafters  must  be  laid  in 
fresh  cement  mortar  on  top  of  the  wall. 
All  spaces  between  rafters  are  filled  in  so 
as  to  prevent  cracks  or  openings  of  any 


E.L.ELVATION 

With  a  house  like  this  and  good  pork  to 
start  with,  a  farmer  can  supply  his  table 
with  good  home-made  bacon,  hams  and 
shoulders  the  year  round. 

The  best  smoke  is  made  from  green 
maple  wood.  Probably  clean  corn  cobs 
come  next.  With  a  smoke  house  thor- 
oughly well  built  to  keep  out  flies  and  oth- 
er insects  the  meat  may  be  smoked  in  the 
spring  and  left  in  the  smoke  house  all  sum- 
mer. By  way  of  precaution  a  very  little 
smoke  may  be  started  once  or  twice  a 
month  or  some  of  the  meat  may  be  cover- 
ed with  paper  and  cloth.  Very  much  de- 
pends on  the  house.  If  the  house  is  too 
dry  there  will  be  too  much  evaporation 
and  the  meat  will  become  dry;  if  the  house 
is  too  damp  it  will  be  inclined  to  mould. 
If  it  is  intended  to  keep  the  meat  in  the 
house  after  the  smoking  process  is  com- 
pleted it  will  be  necessary  to  fit  the  door 


^ 



/      // 

-    /V-O 

—    — 

-^ 

t 

r 

L 

- 

1 

1           1           1           1       ■ 

- 

- 

c 

1 

1 

5. 

1 

1 

FUOOH      T='U/\N 

kind.  Cross  poles  to  support  the  meat  are 
made  of  four  by  fours  with  half  inch  pegs 
inserted  from  the  sides.  The  pegs  are  set 
at  an  angle  of  about  thirty  degrees.  This 
will  permit  hanging  the  pieces  of  meat  in 
the  old  fashioned  way  of  cutting  a  slit  in 
the  skin  in  the  bone  end.  If  strings  are 
preferred  the  same  kind  of  peg  may  be 
used.  Nails  are  not  to  be  recommended 
for  this  purpose. 

Farmers  living  within  easy  distance  of 
a  large  city  may  work  up  a  good  trade  in 
farmer  cured  meats  by  selling  direct  to 
consumers,  thereby  saving  both  the  pack- 
er's and  grocer's  profits.  Only  thrifty 
young  pigs,  not  too  fat,  and  in  prime  con- 
dition are  suitable  for  a  trade  of  this  kind, 
but  farmers  have  the  pick  and  they  may 
just  as  well  select  the  best.  Every  person 
living  in  the  city  enjoys  a  change  in  meats 
as  well  as  in  other  things. 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


281 


CHEAP  GRAIN  BUILDING— Ai 28 

A  cheap  building  to  hold  grain  and  corn     ing  with  studding  only  ten  feet  long,  but 
is  shown  in  this  design.  It  is  a  low  build-     that  is  about  as  high  as  a  person  cares  to 


From  J   E-LELVAjion. 


FuooP  Plam. 


pitch  corn  or  threshed  grain.  Just  ordin- 
ary one  by  four  pine  strips  spaced  to  }i 
inch  are  nailed  on  the  outside  of  two  by 
four  studding  to  make  the  corn  crib,  but 
the  wheat  and  oat  bins  of  course  are  made 
tight  all  around  and  a  little  extra  work  is 
put  on  the  floor. 

There  is  considerable  side  pressure  in  a 
wheat  bin  which  must  be  guarded  against 
by  using  a  few  extra  braces,  but  heavy 
timbers  are  unnecessary  in  a  bin  the  size 
of  this  one.  This  building  may  be  floored 
overhead  for  storage,  or  the  bins  may  be 
left  open  to  the  roof.  By  leaving  the 
space  open  the  building  will  be  lighted 
sufficiently  by  the  small  window  in  each 
gable. 

It  is  not  intended  to  floor  the  driveway 
unless  it  is  needed  when  using  a  fanning 
mill  to  clean  grain,  but  the  building  would 
be  all  the  better  for  having  a  good  solid 
floor  the  full  size.  This  plan  provides  for 
a  building  thirty  by  forty  feet.  Thirty 
feet  is  wide  enough  for  convenience  either 
in  building  or  for  use  afterwards,  but  of 
course  it  mav  be  anv  length. 


28a 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


GRANARY— Ai  07 


Farmers  have  more  use  for  granaries 
than  formerly.  There  are  two  reason  for 
this,  one  is  that  more  stock  is  kept  on  the 
farm  and  it  is  necessary  to  have  grain  the 
year  round,  another  is  that  ovv^ing  to  a 
shortage  of  cars  and  speculation  in  grain, 


good  mill  that  will  select  say  one  bushel 
out  of  ten  of  the  kind  of  grain  that  you 
want  to  sow  and  do  it  while  blowing 
the  chaff  out  of  the  grain  you  are  sell- 
ing without  interfering  with  the  grade  is 
a  valuable  mill,  but  there  are  just  such  fan- 


n/ro/:^  ^^p/A^ 


prices  are  not  always  satisfactory  in  the 
fall  and  it  pays  to  hold  grain  to  sell  later. 
Then,  more  attention  is  now  being  paid 
to  seed.  A  grain  house  like  this  with  a 
place  for  scales  and  a  fanning  mill  is  a 
very  valuable  addition  to  any  farm.  The 
different  kinds  of  grain  may  be  stored  in 
the  bins  at  threshing  time  and  run  through 
the  fanning  mill  when  taken  to  the  ware- 
house for  sale.  P)y  rigging  the  mill  care- 
fully a  small  proportion  of  the  largest, 
heaviest  grains  may  be  retained  for  seed 
without  adding  anything  to  the  cost.     A 


ning  mills  made  and  their  cost  is  little  if 
any  more  than  the  common  kind  on  the 
market. 

In  this  scale  room  wires  may  be  stretch- 
ed for  hanging  the  empty  bags  when  not 
wanted.  By  sinking  the  scales  in  the 
floor  each  bag  may  be  weighed  as  it  is 
loaded.  This  is  best  done  by  having  a  two- 
wheeled  bag  truck  and  a  counter  weight 
on  the  scale  beam  so  that  the  net  weight 
may  be  written  down  each  time  without 
taking  the  time  to  calculate. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  in  buildinjr 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


283 


a  granary  to  have  it  rat  proof.  The  wall 
of  course  must  go  below  the  frost  and  it  is 
a  good  plan  to  put  a  three  inch  tile  all 
around  the  bottom  on  the  outside  which 
answers  for  drainage  as  well  as  to  keep  the 


house  should  be  set  up  well  from  the 
ground  for  two  reasons,  it  should  be  the 
height  of  the  wagon  for  easy  loading  and 
unloading  and  it  should  be  high  and  dry 
because  grain  should  be  kept  from  all  un- 


rats  from  burrowing  under  the  wall.  Some 
farmers  object  to  a  plaform  in  front  of  the 
door  just  on  account  of  rats,  but  if  the  door 
is  made  heavy  and  made  to  fit  tight  with 
a  bit  of  hoop  iron  at  the  bottom,  rats  will 
not  get  in  that  way  if  the  door  is  kept  shut. 
It  is  difficult  to  arrange  a  plan  of  getting 
in  and  out  conveniently  without  a  plat- 
form. The  door  is  too  high  to  step  up  and 
if  you  have  a  kind  of  stair  to  reach  it  you 
might  just  as  well  have  a  good  loading 
platform  as  a  cheap  shaky  affair.  A  grain 


necessary  moisture.  There  is  moisture 
enough  in  the  air  in  damp  weather  any- 
how without  taking  chances  on  moisture 
from  the  ground. 

The  doors  to  the  bins  are  made  of  loose 
boards  dropped  into  grooves  so  that  one 
board  may  be  put  in  or  taken  out  as  re- 
quired. A  little  extra  expense  put  into 
the  qualitv  of  the  flooring  is  money  well 
laid  out.  The  floor  should  be  free  from 
shake  and  fairly  free  from  knots,  at  least 
there  should  be  no  black  knots. 


RAT  PROOF  GRANARY— A141 
Cost  of  Blue  Prints,  $5.00 


A  dry  floor  and  one  that  is  ratproof  is 
made  by  excavating  for  the  foundation  of 
the  granary  about  six  inches  deep.  Then 
pound  in  three  or  four  inches  of  cinders 
and  lay  the  sills  and  joists  on  the  cinders. 

After  the  building  is  up  and  enclosed 
make  cement  concrete  by  mixing  one  part 


cement,  three  parts  sand  and  four  parts 
gravel  or  broken  stone.  Fill  in  with  this 
concrete  to  the  tops  of  the  joists,  then 
while  the  concrete  is  soft  put  down  the 
matched  floor,  nailing  it  right  into  the  soft 
concrete.  As  soon  as  the  floor  is  finished 
shut  the    building    up    tight    and    bank 


284 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


around  the  outside  to  keep  the  air  away         The  matched  boarding  is  put  on  the  out- 
from  the  concrete  so  it  will  dry  slowly.         side  of  the  studding  and  the  siding  nailed 


SA/a    £:L£'l^/7r/OA/ 


zil 


/ 
\ 


S/^ 


^Loo/?  /°z/7/v  or  Gfiff/v/r/?y 


sSrcr/OA' 

over  that.  This  is  for  the  purpose  of 
leaving  the  inside  exposed  so  that  a  cat  or 
dog  could  easily  reach  a  rat  if  it  should 
get  inside.  Hollow  walls  make  harbors 
for  rats  but  this  construction  leaves  them 
no  protection. 

There  is  a  window  in  the  back  end  of  the 
alley  and  another  one  over  the  door  in 
front.  The  doors  are  made  heavy  and 
swing  out.  They  close  against  heavy 
jambs  so  that .  rats  and  mice  have  very 
little  encouragement  to  get  in  at  the  door. 
The  scales  are  let  in  the  floor  flush.  Pro- 
vision must  be  made  for  this  before  the 
concrete  is  put  in. 


FARM  HOUSE  WATER  SUPPLY  UNDER  PRESSURE— A226 

It, is  just  as  easy  and  just  as  cheap  to  tend  to  the  work  without  very  much  super- 
have  a  house  water  supply  under  pressure  vision  and  with  a  very  light  annual  ex- 
in  the  country  as  it  is  in  the  city  because  pense  for  oil  and  repairs, 
city  rents  and  taxes  are  sufficient  not  only  For  extra  large  houses  and  where  a 
to  pay  for  the  cost  but  to  make  uj)  for  the  great  deal  of  stock  is  kept  sometimes  a 
stealings  of  dishonest  municipal  employees  gasoline  engine  is  more  satisfactory  than 
and  the  aggregate  to  the  property  holders  a  windmill  l)ut  this  is  a  question  to  be  de- 
foots  up  more  than  the  interest  on  the  cost  cided  by  local  conditions  because  either 
of  a  sufficient  private  water  supply  system  one  is  all  right  when  properly  placed  and 
in  ine  country.  connected. 

We  now  have  powerful  windmills  that  The  very  first  consideration  is  a  good 

will  do  the  pumping  and  automatically  at-  well.     You  must  have  plenty  of  water  at 


PRACTICAL     BARN     PLANS 


285 


all  seasons  and  you  must  have  pure  water. 
It  is  more  difficult  to  get  pure  water  in  the 
country  than  it  is  to  get  a  plentiful  supply 


of  water  that  is  not  especially  good.  The 
Illinois  Sanitary  Commission  is  respon- 
sible for  the  statement  that  most  country 
wells  contain  disease  germs,  especially  ty- 
phoid and  dyphtheria. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  tanks  in  use;  one 
is  the  ordinary  elevated  windmill  tank  that 
is  in  common  use  all  over  the  country  and 
the  other  is  the  underground  pressure  tank 


that  has  not  yet  attained  universal  popu- 
larity probably  because  it  is  new,  but  the 
underground  tank  has  many  advantages 
over  the  other.  The  water  is  cool  in  sum- 
mer and  it  does  not  freeze  in  winter  and 
the  underground  tank  is  cleaner  because 
it  is  not  open  to  dust  and  insects. 

To  buy  a  steel  tank  to  put  in  the  ground 
seems  quite  an  expense  to  start  with,  but 
it  often  happens  that  an  unsafe  steam  boil- 
er may  be  bought  very  cheap  for  this  pur- 
pose. A  boiler  maker  will  take  out  the  old 
flues,  patch  the  uncertain  places  and  make 
the  old  shell  perfectly  water  tight  and  sat- 
isfactory in  every  way. 

The  underground  tank  should  be  a  little 
larger  than  necessary  in  order  to  have  a 
safe  supply  of  water  at  all  times.  Then 
you  have  the  air  space  to  figure  on  as  this 
gives  the  pressure.  You  fill  the  tank  about 
two-thirds  or  three-fourths  full  of  water, 
then  with  an  air  pump  you  put  on  the  pres- 
sure you  want,  which  may  be  anywhere 
from  ten  to  forty  pounds  per  square  inch. 
If  your  air  pump  is  handy  when  needed  the 
pressure  may  be  quickly  increased  to  one 
hundred  pounds  in  case  of  fire  which  is  an- 
other advantage  of  the  underground  tank 
system.  By  having  a  large  tank  and  a 
large  air  space  you  get  a  steadier  supply 
because  the  air  pressure  does  not  decrease 
so  fast  when  )^ou  draw  off  water  for  use. 

Every  new  country  house  should  be 
piped  with  water  and  gas.  It  should  be 
wired  with  electricity  and  the  plumbing 
should  be  equal  to  an}'  city  residence. 
Farmers  are  entitled  to  all  the  improve- 
ments going.  If  they  don't  have  them  it 
is  their  own  fault. 


SCALE  HOUSE— A 1 87 


This  is  a  drawing  of  a  good  scale  house 
covering  an  eight  by  fourteen  foot  plat- 
form, four  ton  scale.  The  building  is 
fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  base  with  doors 
twelve  feet  high,  allowing  a  large  load  of 
hay  to  be  driven  in  upon  the  scales.  The 
sides  of  the  house  are  used  for  hanging  and 
placing  tools  and  other  small  articles  not 
-wanted  in  the  barn. 


Every  up-to-date  farm  should  have  a 
good  pair  of  scales  big  enough  to  weigh  a 
load  of  hay  or  a  drove  of  hogs  or  sheep. 
Enough  money  is  lost  on  every  farm  by 
guessing  at  weights  to  pay  for  a  good  set 
of  scales,  and  besides  this  there  is  a  great 
satisfaction  in  knowing  what  things  weigh. 

In  feeding  cattle,  hogs  or  sheep  for  mar- 
ket,  weighing   at   regular   periods   is   ey- 


286 


PRACTICAL    BARN    PLANS 


tremely    valuable.      It    is    impossible    to 
know  whether  stock  is  doing  as  well  as  it 


rack  high  enough  to  hold  horses,  strong 
enough  to  hold  a  bull  and  tight  enough  for 


should  do  unless  tab  is  kept  on  the  increase 
in  weight. 

After  this  scale  house  is  built  make  a 
good  solid  rack  to  surround  the  scales  to 
pen  up  stock  at  weighing  time.     Make  the 


PL.AN 

hogs.     Wire  fencing  may  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage, stretched  on  to  wooden  frames. 


TOWER  TANK  HOUSE  — A145 


Where  a  water  pressure  is  wanted  it  is 
often  a  good  plan  to  put  the  water  tank 
in  the  windmill  tower.  In  plan  (A  145) 
the  tank  is  shown  in  the  dotted  lines.  It 
is  placed  ten  feet  above  the  ground  and  the 
tank  itself  is  fourteen  feet  high  by  ten  feet 
in  diameter  at  the  bottom. 


In  placing  a  tank  like  this  it  is  necessary 
to  carry  a  tlircc  inch  pii)e  through  the  tank 
and  pass  the  pump  shaft  through  this  pipe. 
The  pipe  is  screwed  into  a  flange  at  the 
bottom  and  the  flange  is  bolted  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  tank  to  make  it  thoroughly 
water  tight.     The  pipe  must  be  steadied 


1 


PRACTICAL    BARN     PLANS 


287 


T/fNH    HOUS£: 


at  the  top  and  the  shaft  must  have  a  bear- 
ing, both  above  the  tank  and  below  it  so 
it  won't  scrape  on  the  pipe.  The  well  and 
pump  of  course  are  directly  under  the  tank 
in  the  center  of  the  tower. 

The  outside  boarding  is  made  double 
and  lined  with  paper  to  be  warm  in  winter. 

There  is  generally  some  drip  from  a 
tank  placed  like  this  for  which  reason  the 
room  below  is  seldom  made  use  of  for  any 
purpose,  but  a  few  farmers  have  utilized 
this  room  for  a  bathroom.  They  make  a 
cement  bottom  with  a  drain  to  carry  off 
the  surplus  water  and  put  in  a  shower  bath 
connected  with  a  pipe  from  the  tank.  A 
shower  bath  is  the  most  convenient  and 
probably  the  most  healthful  of  any  kind 
of  a  bath.  At  any  rate  it  is  easily  kept 
clean. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  farmer  or  his 
men  should  be  denied  the  privilege  of  get- 
ting a  bath  whey  they  want  it.  There  are 
bathrooms  in  almost  all  city  houses  and 
there  should  be  bathing  conveniences  on 
every  farm.  By  placing  a  stove  in  this 
room  under  the  tank  it  could  be  made  com- 
fortable in  winter  as  well  as  summer,  and 
a  stove  with  a  water  heater  attached  to 
the  tank  would  give  a  water  pressure  so 
that  the  shower  could  be  made  any  tem- 
perature desired. 

The  height  of  this  tower  is  forty  feet 
to  the  windmill.  Of  course,  the  height  of 
a  windmill  tower  must  depend  upon  its 
location.  If  the  tower  is  built  on  high 
ground  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  up  so  high 
unless  the  windmill  is  surrounded  by  high 
buildings  or  trees. 


Index  to  Practical  Barn  Plans 


Number.  Page. 

An  "A"  Shaped  Poultry  House.  . . .  A152  256 

An  Ohio  Barn A146  154 

An  Octagon  Barn A150  171 

Another  Cheap  Stable A132  210 

Another  Model  Dairy A 176  151 

Another  Double  Corn   Crib A120  275 

Balloon  Roofed  Barn A143  164 

Barn  at  Mt.  Carmel,  111 A195  138 

Barn  for  a  Small  Farm A160  182 

Barn  For  Dairy  Cows A162  132 

Barn  near  St.  Francesville,  111 A188  177 

Barn  with  Ell  Shed A163  189 

Canadian    Barn A183  167 

Carriage  House  and  Stable A127  225 

Cattle  Barn A115  191 

Cattle  Shed A155  243 

Cement  Block  Smoke  House A147  279 

Cement  Rough  Cast  Barn A182  221 

Cheap  Cattle  Shed A123  243 

Cheap  Grain   Building A128  281 

Cheap  Hog  House A122  271 

Cheap  Horse  Barn Ai  13  209 

Cheap   Ice   House A222  262 

Cheap   Smoke   House A149  278 

City  Stable  for  Two  Horses A114  203 

Combined     Barn     and     Covered 

Barnyard    A102  124 

Concrete  and  Wood  Barn A213  195 

Convenient  Horse  Barn A133  200 

Cow  Barn  for  Forty  Cows A 159  136 

Dairy  Bank  Barn A125  121 

Double  Corn  Crib A105  274 

Double  Poultry  House A154  253 

Duck  House A  98  25 1 

Eight  Horse  Stable A124  202 

Eighty  Acre  Farm  Barn A21 1  173 

Elevated  Chicken  House A165  258 

English  Carriage  House A  99  216 

Farm  House  Water  Supply  Under 

Pressure A226  284 

Feed  Lots  for  Beef  Cattle A184  235 

Forty  Cow  Barn A209  143 

Granary    A 107  282 

Gothic   Barn A181  219 

Hay  and   Grain    Barn A167  175 

Hexagonal  Poultry  House A174  249 

Hog  House .\i09  272 

Hog  House  and  Corn  Crib .\i40  273 

Home  Dairy ...  A206  1 53 

Horse  and  Cow  House Ai3i  224 

^'Torse    Rarns 197 


Number. 

Horse    Shed A121 

Ice  for  Cold  Storage A223 

Implement   Shed    A148 

Kelser   Barn A189 

Large  Bank  Barn A166 

Large  Dairy  Stable Aioo 

Larger  Ice  House A224 

Little  Village  Stable Ai35 

Livery  Stable A218 

Model  Chicken  House A173 

Model   Cow   Barn A158 

Model  Dairy A180 

Mount  Carmel  Barn A186 

Neat  Barn  for  Horses A156 

Open  Front  Poultry  House Alio 

Open    Vehicle    Shed A221 

Pitch  of  Barn  Roofs A228 

Plain  Horse  Barn A161 

Practical  Cow   Barn A208 

Practical  Poultry  House A168 

Pretentious   Stock   Barn A179 

Rat  Proof  Granary A141 

Refrigerator  Ice  House A118 

Residence    Barn A216 

Round  Corn  Crib A142 

Round  Dairy  Barn A205 

Scale   House A187 

Scratching  Shed  Poultry  House... A151 

Separate  Horse  Barn A129 

Serviceable   Barn A172 

Single   Corn    Crib A106 

Small  Barn  for  a  Village  Lot Am 

Small  Barn  with  Cement  Floor. ..  .Ai  12 

Small   Chicken   House A119 

Small  Farm  Barn A169 

Small  Livery  Barn A138 

Small    Poultry    House ^■^153 

Small  Suburban   Barn A215 

Small   Wagon   Shed A108 

Southern  Cow  Barn A207 

Stable  for  Twenty-four  Cows Aioi 

Storage  Barn — Dairy  Stable  Wing.Ai36 

The  Best  Poultry  House A219 

Three-Story   Horse   Barn A117 

Tower  Tank  House A 145 

Twenty-four   Cow   Stable A210 

Two-Hundred  Ton   Ice  House. ..  ..\228 

Village  Stable  with  Cellar .\ii6 

Wabash  County.  111..  Barn A 185 

Well  Planned  Uor^c  Barn .•\t7I 

Yankee    Barn A 134 


